Shooting For Love
by CaptainOats2TheRescue
Summary: Seth Cohen enters the Newport Beach bubble with only two things in mind. Playing basketball and getting respect. What happens when he meets the beautiful cheerleader Summer Roberts? AU SS
1. Losing All Hope

**So this is a new type of fic for me, and I'm not quite sure if I'll stick with it. I will if I get positive feedback. Its just something I've been thinking about for a while, and I'm a huge sports fan and I haven't wrote one yet, so there. Its going to circle around Seth and Summer, and basketball. Seth still will have the same character even though he plays sports, and it will all work itself out in the end.**

**("") That are bolded are Ian's comments, and the plain bold are Liam's.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own zip, zilch, nadda of the OC**

**Losing All Hope**

"Hey babe, you ready?" Zach entered the foyer of the Robert's mansion and waited hesitantly for his girlfriend to appear.

"Yeah just a second." Summer poked her head over the railway from the stairs and plastered a fake smile for her boyfriend before returning back to her room.

"Well hurry up. The biggest game of my life starts in a half hour and I'm already late." Summer rolled her eyes as she heard him walk out the door and slam it behind him. To tell the truth, she thought her relationship with Zach was a tad bit boring. Actually, lets rephrase that and call it a dry relationship.

In any situation, if a relationship wasn't working out, you would end it, right? But Summer was just so afraid of change, that she was scared to make a move. Another motivating factor was that Zach was the captain of the Harbour basketball team, thus claiming him the king of the school. She was self-conscious about what life without Zach would be like. Would people all turn against her? Would she lose all of her friends? That was the kind of following he had around him.

To the average student in Harbor, they'd all say that her and Zach shared a model relationship, and that everybody admired them. But the truth was they rarely ever showed any moments of _actual_ love. Only enough to let others know that they were indeed a couple. Technically, the only thing that was keeping them bound together was the fact that Zach was king of the school, being the captain of the basketball team, which led to Summer being queen of the school, heading up the cheerleading squad. They seemed like the perfect match for each other.

She quickly threw on the first items of clothing she could find that made her look presentable and finished applying her makeup and grabbed her cheerleading outfit. She paced herself down the stairs at a snails pace, trying to stall as much as she could so it would further piss Zach off. She tidied the house up before marching out the door and into the passenger side.

Zach didn't hesitate and quickly started the engine and sped out of the driveway before she even had her door shut.

"So much for being _just a second_." He snarled as he kept his eyes on the road and gripped onto the steering wheel tightly, channeling his frustration with Summer out on it. She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes but kept her gaze well away from him, and stared out at the beautiful scenery that Newport Beach had to offer.

* * *

The red BMW rolled onto the school grounds with 5 minutes to spare. Zach pulled the key out, grabbed his gym bag out of the back seat, and sprinted toward the school exit without even waiting for Summer. Not that she was expecting any sort of chivalrous act from Zach. After all, she knew even holding a door open for her was a challenge in itself. He was definitely full of himself.

She trudged into the school and made a beeline for the group of cheerleaders gossiping amongst each other in the hallway just outside the gymnasium, and she had a hunch it was along the lines of how their captain was running late. God they were such drama queens.

"Hey you guys" Summer finally made her presence felt as they all turned to face her.

"Summer, thank god!" Elizabeth, one of the more conniving and immature girl of the bunch rushed over and wrapped her in an embrace. She was treating this whole ordeal like it was life or death.

"We were starting to get worried." Heidi walked over and joined the other two. She was the ideal advocate for Newpsie In Training.

"Liz has been on the phone calling you." Another girl informed from behind the group. Her name was Chelsea, and she was usually a more quiet and dark spirited person. Rarely did she ever speak up or even comment on anything. She just did what she was told and kept her mouth shut.

"I was busy." _No you weren't. Oh wait, yeah you were. You were doing what you always do, complaining about how shitty your life is. Its routine!_

"Well now that you're here, we can go over that new routine…" Liz began to walk away and headed toward the gym where the game was just about to begin. The other's followed willingly.

"Just let me get changed…" Summer called but to no avail. She headed straight for the girls change room in a terrible mood. There was just no spontaneity to her life. It was safe to say, she was sick and tired of everything around her.

* * *

Summer entered the gym, and the game was already well underway. The stands were packed yet again, which everyone was pretty much accustomed to as Harbor was one of the top seeded teams in the league every year. It was the finals for the Orange County division, and the winner gets a shot at the Southern California title.

"Summer!" She turned her head on a swivel to find the one person that made things bearable around here, and it was Marissa Cooper. They had been best friends ever since, well forever. She stopped fidgeting with her cheerleader outfit as Marissa was approaching her from the other end of the gym. She took the time to check the score, it was 15-12 for Harbor. _Whoopee._

"Its nice to see you _actually _decided to come out and support your man."

"Well I had to, Zach literally came to my house and forced me out the damn house. Speaking of support, you should show _your_ man some or I'm afraid the cutest couple in Newport may be heading for rough water."

"I do show Luke support. Just because I don't go all out and grab pompom's and a skirt." Summer rolled her eyes at her comment and continued to watch the game.

"I don't see what's so fascinating about you and punk music."

"It helps me keep a clear mind. Well that and not being a basketball team groupie."

"Cheerleaders are more than that!" Summer defended, mock hurt.

**And Zach Stephens nails the clutch jumper to end the quarter, narrowing the Panther's lead to just 5 points.**

Arguably the two biggest geeks in the school, brothers Liam and Ian Mackenzie called the radio play-by-play for every _single_ game imaginable at Harbor. Of course, the main one's being basketball and water polo. It was always a frenzy around school, if it wasn't basketball season, then it was water polo season.

"You better get going Sum. Go show some cheer!" Marissa added and gave her a mocking thumbs up and plastered a grin the size of a watermelon. Summer just rolled her eyes and but grinned as she turned away and headed for the rest of the girls.

* * *

**Timeout Pacific, and there is only 20 seconds left! All the Pirates have to do is hold off another Panther's attack and they finally win that illustrious title that's evaded them for so long.**

Summer watched from across the court Zach's confidence radiating off of him, he had a beaming smile that seemingly lit up the gym, and he was just out having a good time it appeared, playing one of the sports he loved. She couldn't help it and her lips soon curved into a smile as she continued to watch him.

**Pacific inbounds the ball, and number 24 takes it.**

"**I'd say they should keep the ball away from him, he's been lighting up the score sheet. Don't you?"**

**He passes it off to All-County guard Josh Cunningham. The clock continues to tick here at the Harbor High school gym.**

"**7 seconds left…"**

**Cunningham fakes a pass and drives straight to the hoop! Oh no, Harbor's last hope is their own perennial All-County guard Zach Stephens.**

"**This doesn't look good Liam."**

"**Shut up Ian…Cunningham stops, posts…**

"**3 seconds.."**

**He shoots with a hand in the face…**

**EEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR**

_**Swish**_

The crowd silenced instantly as the visiting Pacific team all flooded onto the court and attacked Josh Cunningham with embraces. The Harbor bench was left speechless, as they all dejectedly lowered their heads to hide the shame and embarrassment.

Summer felt her heart being tugged at as she spotted behind the celebrating Panther players, Zach glued to the spot underneath the basket, staring aimlessly at the rim. She smiled sympathetically for him, even though they weren't on the greatest terms, and made her way over to him so she could console him.

"Aww baby I'm so sorry." He quickly nuzzled his head into her chest, but remained silent. Summer heard a few sniffles and it only made her feel worse about her feelings towards their relationship. "You tried your best, right? That's all that matters." Her eyes raced around the gymnasium. The stands were all but empty, and the other cheerleaders who had boyfriends on the team all were consoling their own respective mates.

He abruptly snapped his head away from her chest and clutched his fists tightly together.

"That was bullshit!" He yelled as he began swiping frantically away at any lingering tears.

"I know baby, but you tried and I think that's all that-"

"-Shut up you bitch! What the hell do you know?" Zach shoved her out of the way rather harshly, and she was taken back by the stark brutality he displayed as he stormed away from her and approached the celebrating Pacific team that were all gathered at center court. Summer was left speechless at his words, and saw Marissa skipping over to her in a hurry. She remained frozen on the spot, Zach's words taking full affect on her.

She felt Marissa slowly beginning to guide her across the court and towards the side exit, but something in the background caught her attention.

"Hey Cunningham…" The victorious boy lowered himself down from being thrust on his teammates shoulders and faced the direction where the voice came from. Zach was left standing alone, surrounded by Pacific supporters, and did the unthinkable. He punched Josh square in the jaw, sending him piling backward into fellow teammates. That sparked an all out brawl.

That was about all of it that they caught, as Summer was already being whilst away out the door and into the parking lot. Marissa must have caught wind of what happened, because she seemed pretty urgent on getting her home and away from Zach.

The car ride home was silent. Marissa didn't force the issue of Zach, and Summer didn't feel the need to either. Her mind wasn't quite wrapped around everything yet, she was too busy trying to come to conclusions about Zach first off. She knew that they no longer were working as a couple, but what kept her lingering on was his popularity. She wasn't exactly using him, it was just she has been with him for so long now, that she was afraid of change.

She had been eluding change for so long now, that it was becoming routine. Even after all the times she caught Zach with another girl, she stayed with him. The numerous times he blew her off for basketball or some other arrangement, she stayed with him. She was in desperate need of something new, something fresh.

She constantly ran and hid from any surfacing issues in her and Zach's relationship, and she always chalked everything up to it being a mistake and would never happen again. Yet time and time again, it kept recurring and she was proven wrong. Of course she would forgive him, and they'd put on their happy couple act in front of the school and go on like nothing happened. But maybe this time was different. She didn't know if she could do that anymore.

Before, she was never out looking for ways to complicate things and change her. But now, maybe this time, change was looking for her.

**Okay so that was an alright chapter, I'm not entirely happy because I'm not very good at writing just Summer chapters. I'm more better with writing for Seth, so this WILL get better. Next chapter will be introducing Seth and the Cohen's.**

**Please review and leave your input. Don't bash too much though because this will get better.**


	2. Move Along

**Thank you for all of the reviews, and I hope you all continue to review my story throughout its entirety.**

**Now to answer a few of your questions.**

**There will be a bit of RM in the story, but only enough to introduce them to each other, than eventually onto steadily dating. I don't like to spend to much time writing about them.**

**Zach is not going to be entirely evil, only for a little while. It was not my intention to make him evil, just that he's heavily misunderstood like Summer and Seth. He's sort of going to be a Luke-like character, and turn out a better person.**

**Alright, so that's that. And don't worry my A/N won't be too long, I just needed to set everything straight. Okay, hope you enjoy. Review!**

**Move Along**

_5 months later…_

"Seth honey, please try and be reasonable."

"There's nothing to be reasonable about. I'm not going."

"Your mother's company is growing son, we can't stay here forever." Sandy tried to shed some light on the situation. The Cohen's were planning to move to southern California; due to Kirsten's company's expansion, they were moving their office to Newport Beach.

"All of my friends are here. Ryan doesn't want to go either, I know he doesn't."

"Ryan took the news and said he was fine with either place." _He betrayed me! Well let's get right down to it; he's a long story. But to make a long story short; let's say there was a drug bust, a scheduled meeting with my dad, also known as his lawyer, and an invitation for a free night stay…the rest is history._

"My team needs me. I can't leave now, schools starting in a month and I'll miss tryouts." The one thing Seth would always be grateful of was the day his parents decided to move them away from Berkeley and to Brooklyn. I know on paper, the transition doesn't seem very grade A material, but Seth's interests changed considerably. In Berkeley, he spent his days alone with no friends; but in Brooklyn, his parents convinced him to show some school spirit and start participating in activities. He became the hit of the school, gained tons of friends and was on nearly every sports team. Also, it led them to adopting Ryan, his best friend and brother.

"I know honey, but I'm sure you'll have a chance to try out for the team in Newport. If my memory serves me right, Harbor has an excellent basketball team." Kirsten defended.

"I hate it there, everyone treats me like shit. And I'm sure they're basketball team is more concerned about what time _90210_ is on."

"Hey, what's going on?" Ryan entered the main door and peered around the kitchen suspiciously. Everyone was now gathered in the same room.

"Ryan, a little birdie told me you agreed to the ridiculous idea of moving…" Seth walked across the room and leaned on Ryan's shoulder, figuring his best friend of all people was on his side.

"I did."

"What! Why?"

"I don't know. I mean everything's okay for you here, but the only thing keeping me here was Jessica." _Jessica…he just had to run into that girl his first night in town. Ever since, they've been basically inseparable. _"I told her about the move, and she said its best to end the relationship." Ryan smiled weakly, then made his exit and headed upstairs. Seth's eyes followed him up the stairs, and he could tell just by the way he was walking; a major brooding session was in order.

"We're moving in two weeks, and that's final. Now get to bed." Kirsten stated and pranced out of the room without further discussion. Seth stormed upstairs, pissed off at the world.

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"Tara, please don't be like this."

"No Seth, its easier for me if we not hang out anymore. I don't want to see you in these next two weeks, it will be too hard." She sniffled and it made his heart ache. As soon as he went upstairs, he immediately called Tara, his girlfriend of 2 years.

"I need to see you though."

"I'm sorry Seth I can't. J-Just know its better this way…I-I gotta go…I love you and I always will." She was too heart broken to even hear his response; she hung up. Seth was speechless. The only sound being that of the dial tone ringing frantically. He slowly set the phone down, and remained seated on his bed, staring aimlessly at the door. It really was over.

All the memories started flooding back to him. He remembered she was the only girl in school that wouldn't give him the time of day when he first arrived, and that only tempted him more to try and win her over. And when he did, he knew it would last. 2 years at that.

"Hey man…"Ryan's croaking voice filled the room, and Seth quickly straightened up and wiped the small compilation of moisture building in the corner of his eyes. "Was that Tara?" Seth nodded and sighed heavily, the phone conversation still fresh on his mind.

"She said she doesn't want to see me anymore. She says it will be too hard." Ryan nodded, understanding both Seth's point and Tara's.

"Well if its any consolation, my visit to Jessica didn't go well at all…words were exchanged, none of them good." Ryan smiled, trying to cheer up his best friend. "Hey man, there's probably some hot cheerleader in California just waiting to crawl all over you." Seth smirked and nodded, but remained quiet.

"It's going to be hard saying goodbye to this place. It changed me so much, you know? I don't want to go back to what I was in Berkeley." Seth sighed, remembering his horrid times in Berkeley.

"This time you'll have me there…"Ryan smiled, which got Seth to smirk. "Well I'm going to bed." Ryan trudged out the room, leaving Seth in silence and to his thoughts.

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"Lets go boys! I want to hit the road by 1." Sandy hollered through the empty house, then went back outside and joined Kirsten. The two weeks went by quicker than any had wanted. Seth and Ryan spent most of the time either playing basketball at the park, or visiting momentous places around New York that they wanted to always remember. Now, the boys were saying their own personal goodbyes to the house, Ryan's being a bit more dramatic.

The Cohen's really changed his life; they opened their home to him and allowed him to become a part of their family. For that he'd always be grateful.

For Seth, it gave him a whole new life, and a good friend/brother to boot. He was more worried about not fitting in again in California. It already didn't work out once, he feared for a second time.

"You know, I'm going to miss kicking your ass in PS2 in this room…oh well I guess now I'll have to do it across the country…" Seth mockingly sighed, which caused a punch to be thrown at him. Though Seth was the more athletic and socially involved of the two, Ryan could still break him like a twig.

"I'll be outside." Ryan walked off, leaving Seth alone in the living room. He heard the door close, signaling he was the last of the Cohen's in the house.

What he feared the most was that he would have to change his personality again to fit in Newport. He was already a geek once, and the move to Brooklyn somehow moved him way up the social spectrum to popular. And he never changed one thing about himself. That showed how hallowed personal appearance was in Newport, and how invaluable it was in Brooklyn. Here, he could just relax and be himself, but in California, you had to fight to survive.

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"Honey, I'm all for moving; but don't you think we could've moved someplace say…away from that conniving, wretched, snake of a father-in-law?" Kirsten smirked and rolled her eyes at Sandy's noble but untimely attempt to try and delay the move. Kirsten's company, New York Group, blew up this year and was an instant hit. But money and power got to Caleb's head, Kirsten's father and New York Group CEO, and he decided to move the company to California. Thus leading to him making the trip the sun soaked state.

"Don't forget I'm also her boss…"Caleb arrived, to the surprise of the Cohen's, and was stepping out of his car. He walked across the yard and greeted Kirsten with a kiss on the cheek. "Shalom Sandy…"

"Caleb…it's always a pleasure…" Sandy plastered a fake smile, and leaned in closer to Kirsten. "_I'll be in the car._" He whispered and quickly escaped an unwanted conversation with Caleb.

"So is everyone excited for the trip?"

"Oh _so_ much…" Seth exited the house, and all heads swirled to see him. He grunted and walked straight past his grandpa and mom, heading straight to the car. The moving trucks had already taken off, and they were the last to hit the road.

"Well lets get going." Caleb headed back to his vehicle, as Kirsten retreated back to hers.

"See yeah gramps." Ryan called out from the window, causing a smile rare ever sees spring on Caleb's face, and he sped away. Ryan was close with Caleb, more so than Seth. Caleb really bonded with Ryan, especially seeing as Ryan's past troubles could sort of be related to those of Caleb's. He had to build his empire from the ground up, with little or no money, getting into mischief and trouble.

"Cali here we come…yeah."

"Dad, lose the gangster tone please." Seth commented from the backseat, keeping his eyes glued on the house. Sandy chuckled and linked hands with Kirsten, then pulled out of the driveway, pausing briefly on the street so they all could take their last looks at the house.

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"Dude, wake up. We're here." Seth's eyes shot open, and he immediately surveyed the surroundings. The house they were parked in front of was insanely huge; it absolutely trampled their old home by a mile. The sun in all of its glory; was beaming down brightly, and the sky was a calm, clear blue. All the surrounding yards were spotless, and not one of the homes had a flaw to it.

He stepped out of the car, and saw that some of the boxes had already been moved inside. His parents were touring the home, and Ryan was just now joining them after waking Seth up. They were the only ones that had seen the home, Ryan and Seth didn't have a clue what to expect.

This was a huge step up from their life in Brooklyn; their house was small, but livable. Up until Kirsten's company hit the big time, the Cohen's only relied on family. They never were the richest family in town, or popular for that matter, but they probably had one of the strongest family dynamics around.

"Whoa…this place is huge…" Seth uttered out as he gazed in amazement at the house. His parents and Ryan had just descended back down the stairs, and had smug grins on their faces. Seth snapped out of his awestruck gaze, and regained his composure. "Uhh…I mean; it's alright. I wish we were in Brooklyn." Sandy and Kirsten laughed, then headed back out the open front door to help empty out the moving trucks.

"Seth, Ryan…a little help here." Sandy stuttered out, he was struggling to carry a dresser out of the truck. The boys both darted out the door to help their ailing dad. Ryan was first to get to the other side of the dresser and help, but meanwhile Seth laid back. Sandy grunted at him, and his face was beginning to lose color, as the dresser was heavier than expected. Even Ryan was huffing and puffing away just to keep his balance.

Sandy looked at Seth agitatedly, causing Seth to explain himself. "Schools starting up soon pops, which means basketball tryouts will start. Can't risk straining myself." He smiled brightly, receiving an eye roll from both Ryan and Sandy. The dresser was definitely causing problems, both of their faces were pitch red, and about a lift away from popping a vein.

"Hey boys…" Kirsten emerged from the moving truck with a curtain set and a lamp. "How about you boys go out and explore the town for a while; Sandy and I can handle things from here. Besides dad should be here any minute."

"Oh wonderful." Sandy spat out as he and Ryan were now slowly progressing toward the front door. Kirsten rolled her eyes at Sandy's enthusiasm. An engine rumble caused them all to turn and search for the sound, only to find Caleb's car pulling into the driveway.

"Hello Kiki." He called out the car window, then quickly shut the car off and walked across to greet his daughter. "Sanford, I see you're just as happy to see me, as I am to see you." Caleb took note of Sandy's face turned a stark red.

"Well, now that everyone's here, I'm going to go and look around the neighborhood. I'm pretty sure Jimmy lives somewhere around here." Kirsten stated giddily, and then stalked off down the street. Sandy sighed heavily; he never did like Jimmy, and now they were living on the same street!

"Ry man, I'm going down to the beach to call Tara; come down after."

"Seth wait, seriously a little help here." They were now attempting to situate the dresser so it could fit through the door. The other movers were waiting patiently inside of the house for the dresser to fit through.

"Oh right, sorry." Seth looked around and found a lone moving guy that was busy taking a break, and lighting up for a smoke. "Hey man, they need your help over there." The man nodded then proceeded over towards Ryan. "See yeah." Seth called before skipping away down the street towards the pier so he could call Tara way back in Brooklyn. Ryan shook his head and grinned at Seth's effort toward being a helping hand.

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"Hi Mrs. Gardner, can I speak to your daughter please?" Seth stammered into the phone, and was received with commotion on the other line. He was down at the beach, the pier to be more specific, just like his mother had asked. He had almost forgotten about the beauty of California, up until today. The sound of the waves crashing onto the shore, the sun lit sky splaying down on the equally amazing town. It really was quite blissful.

He seated himself on a bench near the railing, over looking the pier; as he waited for Tara's mother to pass her the phone.

"S-Seth…" Seth turned his head on a whim and spotted Ryan wailing his hands in the air, struggling to catch up to him. Considering Ryan's a guy who generally likes to keep out of the spotlight, he sure wasn't helping his cause.,

"Dude, calm down." Ryan reached Seth's side and immediately keeled over and leaned against the rail just to the side of Seth. He was gasping for air. "What took you so long?"

"I was…helping…carry…furniture." He breathed out. "Then…couldn't…find…pier."

"It's easy, just go to the beach man." Ryan rolled his eyes at how naïve Seth was being.

"Do you know how damn long this pier is?" Ryan finally was able to steady his breathing, and joined Seth on the bench. "Plus I was worried about you, I was afraid you'd do something stupid."

"Relax man, I'm just phoning Tara; I'm not going to hurt myself or anything." He laughed, and regained his focus on the pending call. He wasn't even aware if anyone was talking.

"I'm going to a much needed drink." Ryan sighed heavily than rose up from the bench and headed back down in the direction he came from; in search of a store. Seth remained content on the bench; it took longer than expected for her to answer the phone.

"Oh my god, you so did not just say that to m-…Hello?" Tara giggled; God just hearing her voice caused Seth to smile. The distance apart from her was affecting him more than anyone would ever know.

"Tara, hey."

"Umm…Seth?" She questioned, and on the other line her face drowned of all color.

"Hey, I just wanted to call and see how you're doing."

"I told you I didn't want to see you anymore…" Seth could hear her chatting to someone else; he just assumed it was her mom or something. "A lots changed."

"So what? I can't call and see how you are?"

"No of course not, I just don't want this to be harder than it already is...I've barely slept, I don't talk to anyone except Jess, I'm lonely…" Seth felt his heart strain, and his lips curled downward into a frown. He hated being the cause of her pain; after all the time he spent chasing after her back when she never knew him, it was always better to see her smiling.

"I know, and I'm sorry about everything. But I just wanted to hear you're voice again…I miss you." The line went silent, and was followed up with more commotion and loud noises, also with Tara whispering something. Seth shrugged it off, and took her silence as a sign that she was upset also.

"So…schools starting up soon. Registration week is in a couple days, and I'm kind of nervous about meeting everyone."

"Seth…this really isn't a good time…_be quiet!_" He was beginning to get worried now, whoever she was talking to, apparently wasn't making things easier for her. He despised anyone who treated her badly.

"Are you okay, what's going on?"

"_Tara, baby…hurry up and get back in bed."_

Seth's face drained of all color, and he looked a ghostly pale white. His vision grew clouded with small ambles of tears slowly etching their way down his face, and he remained froze with the cell sealed to his ear.

"I don't suppose you heard that…" She mumbled out, now in a more quiet and secure room.

"Who is it?" He yelled out angrily, causing a few heads to twirl around and stare confusedly at him, but he could care less. "I bet it's Jack; I knew from the very first day I saw him I didn't like him. He's been eyeing you up ever since we started dating. Not only does he take my starting position on the team once I leave, he takes my girl."

"No Seth please, just let me explain." Seth sighed heavily, and waved a rough hand through his now disheveled locks. He felt himself beginning to get choked up for words, and decided to end it.

"You know what, I may never have been the greatest boyfriend, I know I treated you like hell for a while; but I always respected you. That may not seem like much, but sometimes I wish you at least show me the decency and respect me, for once in your life!" Ryan made his way over from the store, and remained silent behind Seth as he continued to rant on. "I'm not the sweetest guy, not even the nicest either, but I deserve a hell of a lot better than this." He snapped the phone shut, and shoved it roughly into his jean pocket; then fixed his gaze out at the ocean, hoping it could somehow soothe his broken heart.

"Seth..." Ryan seated himself slowly next to Seth, and carefully made sure not to anger him more. In typical Cohen fashion, Seth shielded his face from him, and wiped the tears that still lingered on his face. Ryan narrowed his eyes at him.

"Uhhh…hey man…that wind sure is strong isn't it?" He let out a quiet sniffle, and turned his head away again to try and clean up his appearance. Rarely did he ever let anyone in on what he was going through, the closest one to ever understanding him was Ryan. He never showed his parents his emotional side, even with Kirsten's persistence to let her in like how he used to be when he was younger. Everyone always assumed he was fine; at school, they knew of his reputation, and that was he was more of a rebellious outcast, and never took no bullshit from anyone, not from his family or girlfriend.

"You alright?"

"Yeah…I think I just need to be alone for a while…you know, stay here for a bit, soak it all in?"

"Are you sure, I could stay if you wa-"

"Ryan please, can you just go." Seth kept his gaze fixed out at the entrancing ocean. Ryan sighed, then rose up from the bench to start his long walk back to the house. He patted Seth's shoulder, and gave an sympathetic smile.

"I hate California." Seth spat out annoyed, and Ryan smirked and shook his head as he set out down the long narrow beach.

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She lied to me the whole time…when she said she didn't get any sleep? She had some random with her. When she said she didn't talk to anyone? She had the random to help mend her pain.

"Excuse me?" Seth was shook from his zen like concentration by an annoyed voice from behind him.

"Can I help you?" He turned and found an annoyed brunette tapping her foot impatiently, with one of her hands held firmly at her hip, the other holding food.

"You're in my spot, and were you just crying?" She scoffed and started laughing, and Seth turned away from her embarrassed. Guilt streamed through her, and she decided to take it easy on him, but not _too_ easy.

"Umm I've been here for over an hour and no I wasn't crying, the winds really strong…and who's to say it's _your_ spot specifically?" She rolled her eyes, and eyed the pier around as if looking for someone.

"Look I eat practically everyday, and my friend will be here soon…so move unless you want to get covered in taco." Seth held his hands up defensively, and grinned at her smugly, smiling for the first time sincerely that day.

"Wouldn't want you to waste your food on me, especially how girls are typically more concerned about their weight, and I wouldn't want you to blame me later for being anorexic because you wasted your food on me." Seth exhaled, and he gave her a toothy, yet nervous smile. _What was it about this girl that was causing him to ramble so much?_ He never was this nervous around girls; it was always the other way around. He treated them like crap, and they loved him for it.

"Whatevs, just get lost." She seated herself down in Seth's previous spot, and shooed him away with her hand.

"Seth Cohen." He held out his hand down to her, and smiled brightly. She took no notice of it, and began to unravel her food.

"I didn't ask for your name…" She stated annoyed, and Seth took it as a sign to beat it. He walked about 5 feet away, and saw a tall yet surprisingly attractive girl, with lighter hair join her. He smiled and watched as the two girls immediately became engrossed in daily banter, then turned and set off down the same pathway Ryan had treaded down earlier. But before he was too far away, he felt the urge to turn around and get one last look at the mysterious brunette. He saw her giggling and smiling, which immediately sprang his lips to curl into a smile also.

_Maybe today wasn't so bad_

**That was a bit longer than intended, but oh well what can you do. It was only long because I needed to introduce Seth and The Cohens, also the brunette (:o oh I wonder who?) lol. Seth and Summer's first introduction, next chapter.**

**S/S Meeting, Registration week, School clicks…**

**Again, sorry about how long the chapter was, I just needed to introduce Seth, and this story WILL get better, so I hope you all keep reading.**

**Review!**


	3. Taco Girl and Cry Baby

**Taco Girl Meets Cry Baby**

_Flashback_

_5 months ago…_

"_Are you sure you're alright?"_

"_Yeah, I just need some sleep. That's all." Marissa nodded and wrapped her friend in one more hug, before speeding away in her car; leaving Summer standing on the driveway motionless._

_The entire day had been a blur, when she saw Zach smiling and having a good time playing basketball, she felt herself happy herself also. But then things escalated, and he said some pretty mean things and went after the guy who scored the game winner._

_She honestly didn't have a clue about what to do now; things were too complicated. Tires squealed and then a car came roaring onto the Roberts' driveway, nearly picking Summer off in the process. Zach came stumbling out of his car, with a bottle of vodka in hand. He quickly stashed away the bottle, but Summer had already seen it before he could do anything._

"_Summer…l-look I'm sorry about what I said today, I was just…I was just out of line."_

"_Yeah that's your excuse everyday…Look I'm not in the mood to deal with this, I'll see you at school." She made a move for the door and began walking._

"_What does this mean about us?" Summer pondered his question briefly, then turned to face him._

"_Don't worry, I won't ruin your reputation." Zach seemed pleased with her answer, smiled goofily than got back in his car, pumping the music up loud and jetting out of the driveway._

_End Of Flashback_

Now, 5 months later, here she was about a couple weeks away from starting the eleventh grade, and she was still semi-stuck with that loser. She wasn't _exactly_ with him, it was just their terms had changed dramatically. He no longer contacted her outside of school, and they only shared brief kisses here and there during the day just to keep Zach happy.

Over the months, Zach grew more self-conscious than ever. He was determined to keep things the same, no matter what the cost. Summer on the other hand, wanted out of the relationship, but was still afraid of what would happen once they were broken up. Would everyone choose Zach's side? Would they all abandon her? Would she have any friends left? She was afraid her reputation was at steak.

What she wanted more than anything, was to be in love. She never had been in a relationship where she knew _for sure_ she was head over heels in love. In all of the movies, they always said you get a tingly feeling whenever your around them, or you can't stop thinking about them and you can always feel sparks whenever you even graze their hand. She wanted her body to heat up with love whenever she was around someone. She certainly didn't have that with Zach, far from it actually.

The sound of Marissa loud and startling horn, woke her from her paranoia, and she quickly grabbed her purse and headed out the door. Registration week was among the youth of Newport; which meant everyone had to make good first impressions.

* * *

"Dude, come on lets go."

"No, tell mom and dad to send me a plane ticket back to Brooklyn. Tell them I can live in the old house, I'll be fine. They can afford it…_now_"

"Sandy, Kirsten; come over here and listen to this. Seth's having another rant about leaving."

"Man, what are you doing?! You're not _actually _supposed to go get them…" Seth whispered through the door. He trapped himself in his room, it seemed to be like that ever since he got back from the pier a couple days ago. He'd been dialing home a lot, talking to friends, trying to stay in touch.

"Honey, why is there locks on this door anyways?" Kirsten questioned as she tried to talk to her son through the door.

"You get your ass out here or I'll send you back to live with Nana Cohen."

"Coming." Seth quickly sprung the door open, revealing him in his robe fresh off a shower, and jetted past his family, heading down to the kitchen for breakfast. Sandy had a smug smile, and raised his coffee mug up and clanked it against Ryan and Kirsten's.

"Registration week…I remember when I was in the same situation as you two, me and Jimmy were so scare-" Kirsten ranted on, delighted by the good old days, with Sandy rolling his eyes and snarling.

"-Anyways this is about the boys honey, no matter how _special_ your time was. Seth, you trying out for basketball?" Seth narrowed his eyes at him, and annoyingly nodded his head at him and proceeded to pour some coffee. "Ryan, what about you?"

"Nope, just going to lay low…"

"That's the spirit."

"Ryan, whenever you're ready to go, come and get me." With that, Seth trudged up the stairs, keeping his head lowered so he could show his distain for the move; and headed for his room.

The past few days, he'd been a mute towards his family. Rarely spoke during dinner; breakfast was just as same. The boxes separating each Cohen from the other wasn't helping matters much either, but they had plenty of time to get through those.

Seth avoided all calls from Tara. She'd called maybe 20 times since the move, and more importantly since he heard the other guy's voice in her room. He didn't have the heart to talk to her; she would probably expect him to be business as usual and try to get back at her, and have some hot blonde in his room while she was talking to him. She wouldn't expect to hear him bawl his eyes out to her, so he couldn't make the call; had to maintain his rep back home.

"Seth, I'll be in the car." Ryan called from the other side of the door, and he heard his footsteps slowly begin to fade away. Seth sighed, and began to prepare himself for the day.

He threw on a long sleeve shirt, and followed him up with a band tee overtop. He tossed on some khakis, and trudged out the door to find Ryan.

* * *

"This isn't so bad…right?" Ryan stated, more to himself than anyone as he stood behind the Range Rover in pure awe of the school him. It was the biggest school he'd ever seen, especially coming from his background.

Seth trudged up beside him, and finally looked up at the school. It honestly looked like the sun was shining down solely on the school; the soccer field was shone brightly. But what caught his attention the most was the rather huge building off alone to the right, presumably the basketball court.

Seth smiled at the sight of the massive gym, and took off ahead of Ryan toward the school, which sent Ryan reeling after him. He stopped on the front curb and surveyed the school closer; now he could see flocks of students and concerned parents walking every which way toward the registration booths.

One girl in particular caught Ryan's eye, and was just now beginning to pass by him. She too felt attracted to him, and was beginning to lose focus on where she was going; she had already fallen deep into his ocean blue eyes.

Seth took note of this, and saw the intense eyeing of the body between the two, and grinned at the sight of it. He noticed it was the friend of the brunette he had seen two days ago at the pier; the tall one with light brown hair, and he could now see from close up why Ryan was originally attracted to her.

He decided to help out his brother's cause; when the girl was directly in front of him, still with all eyes on Ryan, he quickly stuck his foot out and tripped up the girl, causing her to lose her foot and come barreling down, but luckily Ryan was zoomed in on her and stuck an arm out to grab her. He brought her in close, so their lips were almost touching, and the sparks quickly began flying.

"Oh, I'm sorry, must've tripped on a rock or something." She stated embarrassedly, and wrenched her eyes away from and surveyed where she had just tripped. Ryan eased her away from him, still entranced by her beauty.

"Yeah, those rocks get you every time don't they." Seth smirked and rolled his eyes at how naïve the girl was.

"I'm Marissa Cooper by the way."

"Ryan Atwood." He shook her hand rather awkwardly, as the sparks rose once again. They both turned to face Seth.

"Oh right, Seth Cohen."

"So you guys new here or something?" She eyed the boys, and Ryan was left gasping for words, tongue-tied. Seth, being the good brother that he was, decided to bail him out again from looking socially retarded.

"Yeah, just moved in last week. I saw you earlier though, a few days ago at the pier with another girl."

"You did?"

"You did?" Ryan said in unison with her, and they both smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah that must've been Summer…"

"Summer…" Seth said her name, and loved how it just flowed off his tongue so easily. He never dreamed the day he'd be back to his old routes of dreaming of girls; in Brooklyn, he had an edgier, rougher style to him. He got what he wanted, when he wanted it. Would that work with Summer?

"She's basically queen of the school, dating the hottest guy in the school, captain of the basketball squad." Seth whipped his head around and listened more carefully. "There's not many social groups anyways, I mean theres the nerds, emo/Goths, rockers, gangsters, preps, cheerleaders and jocks. That about sums it up."

"Where do you fit in?" Ryan finally regained his voice.

"I can't really say. Everyone is the same in my eyes, the only people that follow the stupid rules are Holly Fisher and Elizabeth Slimming, that's about it."

"Yeah I know what you mean." Ryan uttered out, Seth meanwhile had long ago dashed away from the two flirtatious teens and was now headed for the registration booth. He wanted to get it over with so he could hit the gym and see what sort of facility Harbor had.

He quickly finished up registering, and made a beeline for the lone building by the soccer field. He entered and gazed in awe at the floor; it was official size, a lot bigger than his old court in Brooklyn, with vast range of seating, about a thousand people tops. New rims, backboards, hardwood everything.

"Wow, this doesn't suck."

"My thoughts exactly." He turned on a whim, and faced an older man in about his 40ties with a black stubble beard, and a track outfit on. He had a water bottle in one hand, and a towel in the other. "Who are you?"

"Uhh Seth Cohen, I'm new to here so."

"You play any sports?"

"Umm yeah I played basketball on my school team in Brooklyn."

"Brooklyn? You're a far ways from home boy."

"Well, I kind of grew up here before we moved there, so…"

"You trying out for Harbor's team."

"Yeah, planning on it."

"Its going to be a tough year in hell Cohen…I'm Coach of the Harbor Pirates." Seth unknowingly held out a hand to shake, but the coach took no notice of it, and treaded away from and headed for the gym.

* * *

Seth was anxious to get the school year started now, he burst through the gymnasium doors, revealing the hot California sun once again. He walked along a narrow pathway leading toward the back of the school, where he came across the outdoor café.

He searched all of the tables, and surveyed the students in them. All seemed like the prep type, snobby and rich. He came across one in particular that caught his eye. She was sitting alone on the cement bench overlooking the magnificent views of Newport, showing some of the fanciest houses they had to offer.

He slowly felt himself inching towards her, she took no notice of him. She was busy gazing out at the ocean below the humungous houses across the water, and had her legs up on the bench with her arms wrapped around them; rocking back in forth. She looked like she was in deep thought, and didn't want to be disturbed, but he felt compelled to talk to her.

Her hair swerved in the wind like it was setup from a movie, displaying her beautiful features and allowing her dark brown hair to sway with the motion of the wind. He seated himself cautiously in front of her legs, and she finally turned to face him. She didn't seem too pleased.

"Hi, Seth Cohen…" He gave her a toothy grin and held his hand out for her to shake, and when she finally looked at him, he realized it was the girl that had lingered around in his mind along with Tara for the past few days. He now knew her name, whether she gave him it or not, thanks to Marissa…_Summer…_

She eyed him up and down, and gave him a puzzled look. She slowly reached up and shook his hand, and immediately her body was overcome with a energy of want and need she hadn't felt in…ever. Her skin started to heat up, and felt herself glowing with desire.

"Summer Roberts…" They both parted ways amicably, and lowered their hands to their sides.

The boy seemed to feel it too, she saw as soon as he let go of her hand how his hands got clammy, and he swiped a quick hand through his now disheveled hair.

"Remember me, from the pier." Seth spoke up and shook her abruptly from her intense decision of whether what she just felt was the sparks she had been lusting for or clammy hands.

"Umm, can't say that I can."

"Taco boy…"

"Oh right, that was you! Actually I was the one with the taco, you were the one sitting alone crying like a baby."

"I was not crying, I was merely being attacked by the vicious winds out there. I'm not used to that kind of wind."

"Right…You big baby…"

"Well, I feel I made the right decision back then, I didn't want to be covered in salsa sauce." Summer laughed and wrapped her arms around her legs once again, fascinated by the boy.

"Sum! Lets go I'm ready to head out." Marissa hollered from the side of the building, in front of the gym building. Ryan came trotting along from behind her, and shot her a knowing look before going to get Seth.

"So, I'll see you around?" She asked, praying to god he was actually a student and not just a poser hanging around for the hell of it. They never got to talk about that, or much at all for that matter. But all the mattered to her, was the feeling she got, and she was sure he got, when their hands connected for only a brief moment. The energy she felt just off of that touch, could send her body through a craze. That was what she felt love was supposed to be like.

"Oh I have a feeling you're going to be seeing _a lot _more of me, you can count on it."

"Okay…bye!" She smiled and waved sheepishly before fluttering away, passing right by Ryan and heading over towards Marissa.

"Okay man, what was that all about?" Ryan's voice shook Seth's eyes away from staring at Summer, and he refocused on Ryan, who was grinning like an idiot. "You like her don't you."

"Well, you like Marissa." He retaliated, completely avoided his question. "You like my dirty work I did with her, you got to get to know her thanks to me."

"Thanks to you?" He exclaimed incredulously. "You nearly knocked her out, she could've smoked her head off the pavement. What if she got seriously hurt?"

"Okay protective _boyfriend_, calm down. But I do deserve my thanks, and will get them, so you might as well do it now."

"I would've eventually talked to her…" Seth whipped his head around on a whim and narrowed his eyes at him, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly. "Oh fine, thanks ."

"That's what I wanted to hear."

"So, what about you and that girl…"

"-Summer." Seth informed him, and visions of his chat with her and how beautiful she looked perched up on the bench flooded his mind. "I mean, she's so…she's got something about her I can't shake from my mind. I barely know her, and already I feel so attracted to her."

"You like her." Ryan stated rather blandly.

"I don't know man, I've never felt like this before. Not since before I got Tara; but once I got her, it went away almost instantly. But the feeling I got now, is ten times more stronger than when I was pining for Tara."

So obviously we've got another Tara-esque girl on our hands."

"She's just so beautiful…I never thought I'd meet another girl I liked more than Tara, honestly I thought she was the one. But clearly god has other intentions."

"You think she's _beautiful_! Seth Cohen thinks Summer Roberts is _beautiful_?" Ryan stated sheepishly, and grinned, prancing around like a schoolgirl on speed. Ryan really needed to leave sarcasm to him.

"Shut up man, I feel like ever since I moved here, I'm changing. And its all because of Tara and her decision to makeout with Jake less than two weeks after our 2 year relationship ended. Seems like I should be thanking her now doesn't it?"

"Hahaha let's go lover boy." Ryan laughed, and walked off to where Marissa and Summer had been standing, and rounded the corner in front of the gymnasium, out to the parking lot. Seth remained seated on the cement bench, overlooking the beautiful scenery.

He thought Summer was beautiful? How did those words escape his mouth? They were supposed to be for himself only, no Ryan. But now, Mr.Atwood was going to go around flaunting about that he liked Summer. He could see his point though, as it was relatively big news to their family.

He never brought Tara around the house often, only to watch a movie or make out in his room. They never took it past making out, both citing they weren't ready for that sort of commitment. Though two years passed, and towards the end of their relationship, Seth felt ready for that experience with her.

On the outside, everyone used to view him as Mr.Popular, automatically tagging him as a bad ass and a tough guy status. But on the inside, he really was a big softie and was very sensitive. He figured that was the remains of who he used to be back when he lived in Berkeley. He couldn't completely rid himself of that geeky, sarcastic outsider version of himself. Instead, he only refined and toned it up so that he could fit in, in Brooklyn.

That's what he loved about Brooklyn. He was able to be himself there. Everyone knew he read comic books, and thought it was pretty cool and even some turned into comic readers themselves just because he read them. They knew he listened to whiny/depressing music, and they thought it was the coolest thing since Bob Barker came to town.

Seth slowly ripped himself away from his comfy spot on the bench, also Summer's previous one, and trudge toward the gymnasium to find Ryan back at the parking lot.

His mind quickly roamed to Summer, and how badly he wanted to get to know her, not only what she portrayed on the outside, but also on the inside. He could tell she had some things she kept tight to the vest, and didn't let anyone know; he desperately hoped she'd let _him_ in.

Flashes of her smile came roaring through his mind, and it essentially caused a smile to creep to the surface of his face also. That girl had some sort of hold on him, he couldn't explain it.

"Hey Ryan, have I ever told you how _much_ I love California?" Seth sprinted through the bevy of parked beamers and hollered at his brother.

**Okay, so that was exactly the way I saw them meeting initially. Other ideas came through my head, but that was the one I had my mind set on the most. Because it sort of just made the whole chapter work in a way of its own. Anyways, I hoped you liked it. More drama to come.**

**Short chapter coming next one (I hope anyways)**

**Phone call from hell. First day of school.**


	4. Phone Call From Hell

**Thanks for the reviews guys, and sorry about the lack of updating. I just got back from vacation so I've had no time to write. But I'll start posting more updates again.**

**Neffftys- this is very much a Seth chasing Summer because he gets what he wants type of fic, or at least that's what I'm aiming for. It may not be EXACTLY what you had in mind but hopefully close…I'm sorry if you got confused in the last chapter, but I just wanted to get Summer into a false knowledge about him, and then she thinks she finds out the real him in the ensuing chapter…sorry about the confusion..But you basically have the right idea for the story.**

**Anyway sorry about the wait.**

**Read, Review, Enjoy.**

**The Phone Call from Hell**

Days had passed, and still Seth and Summer hadn't seen each other since their run-ins at the pier and at registration week. At first, Seth was positive that he'd see her eventually, after all, it was a small town. But as it grew to 3 days without seeing her, he was growing worrisome, which that in itself was scaring him. He barely knew the girl, matter of fact he struggled from time to time remembering her last name, and already was becoming addicted to her. He had his moments of brief flashes of the Seth Cohen of old, where he would think of the worst of the situation and say she just flat out wasn't interested in seeing him. Still, after being with her and experiencing what he did at the school, he felt compelled to get to know her more.

Summer had been retracing the events very much in her head also, but her time to do so was limited as Zach continued make his daily drop bys and annoy the hell out of her. It wasn't that he was a complete jerk, he just had impeccable timing for trying to become the loving and caring boyfriend so late in the relationship, if you could even call it that.

"G'morning." Seth muttered dryly as he slowly trudged into the kitchen and reached for the cereal cupboard. "Rough night?" He noticed Ryan's noticeably quieter appearance, sitting slouched in the living room couch sipping on coffee.

"Like you don't know."

"What? I don't, what happened?"

"While you were out 'ballin, me and dad had to stay up half the night trying to set up the coffee machine, which you are not so graciously using." Seth fought back a smirk as he watched the liquid substance ooze slowly into his mug.

"You know there's no way I could've helped. Tryouts are starting up soon and I'm out of shape; I gotta get back into it again. Besides, if I helped, we wouldn't be sitting here drinking coffee now would we?"

"-Don't mess with that coffee machine…" Sandy interrupted as he dredged into the kitchen with a giddy Kirsten linked to his arm.

"Hello father…mother…" They broke away from each other and began preparing their own breakfasts. "What, the great Sandy Cohen, couldn't solve the coveted coffee machine?"

"Its so much more complicated setting it all up ourselves instead of having it installed by someone else. There's so many things to set, boiling time, temperature. What ever happened to just waking up and pressing start?" Sandy asked incredulously as he carried his bagel and coffee over to the dinning table.

"The twentieth century happened dad…"

"So what are you boys up to today? You only have another 4 days of freedom until school starts." Kirsten swiftly changed the subject as the topic of coffee machine setup was growing tiresome.

"Well I think I'm going to head over to the school. They're allowing students to use the gym, so might as well make use of it."

"What about you Ryan?" Kirsten called from the kitchen.

"Ehhrrmm." He mumbled out incoherently and shrugged as he continued to watch TV from the other room.

"Wow. That good huh?" Sandy chimed in at the _excitement_ of Ryan's tone.

"I think there was some English in that, I'm not sure though."

"Shut up Seth!" Ryan murmured from the other room, causing Seth to smirk and continue on eating his breakfast.

"There has to be _something_ for you to do around here. We've been here for about a week now."

"I bet he's going to see _Maaariiisssaaa._"

"Shut up Seth!" Ryan replied again, this time with less dryness to it and more of an embarrassed tone.

"With all that hostility built up in him, its only a matter of time before he's back in the arms of _Maariiiissaaa_. Or was it the other way around at school a few days ago, Ryan?"

"Shut up man, why don't you go out and pine over Winter or whatever her name is."

"Its Summer, and that was uncalled for man, below the belt by my standards."

"She's so _unbelievably beautiful_ right Seth?" Ryan retorted, and rose from the couch to find everyone in the kitchen.

"Shut up Ryan! I didn't say it like that."

"You both are just like two little 4 year olds."

"-4 and a half this year mom. Get it right." Seth exclaimed, causing Ryan to break into a slight laughing fit as he seated himself with the others at the table.

"I didn't know you met a girl here Seth…" Ryan perked up and widened his eyes at Seth as he watched him scramble for a way out of this jam.

"So did Ryan." He obviously settled for the actual 4 year old excuse out of the jam.

"Seriously Seth, shut it." Ryan stated with a hint of finality that wouldn't last long.

"You first…" Seth spat right back, deciding to take his childish act to the next level. Ryan grinned at him and shook his head, while Kirsten didn't seem to find the humor.

"Alright that's enough with the language. No more 'shut ups', I've heard more of those than I have about your new lady friends." Kirsten explained, followed by brief silence at the table. Once she was fed up with the silence, seeing as neither of the boys wanted to spill about their new _friends_, she decided to break the ice. "Well if nobodies going to talk…Seth, you remember Jimmy Cooper don't you?" Sandy slurped on his coffee and rolled his eyes.

"Umm faintly why?"

"Oh no reason…its just me and him go way back to our high school days, and I just found out that he's living close to here, just outside of Newport."

"Its only a matter of time before that changes right?" Sandy spat bitterly as he began reminiscing all the hatred he had for that man.

"Shut up Sandy!"

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Who knew inflicting pain on something was all it took for you to feel relieved, and ultimately stress free? Summer had since found refuge in punching a bag hung from the ceiling her room ever since about the end of last school year.

Of course her brief stint of piece and sanity had to be broken by one Zach Stephens.

"Summer?" He called blindly as he entered her room cautiously to the new surroundings.

"What do you want?" She snarled over the stereo and continued pounding away at the bag.

"Just came to check up on you."

"How convenient. But as you see I'm fine, now go."

"Would you just give me a minute, jeez I feel like all summer you've been avoiding me."

"No I haven't. But if you'll excuse me, I'm heading down to the pier in a couple minutes."

"Since when did you start boxing?" Zach asked as she finally came to a halt with the incessant beating on the bag.

"Since when do you care?" Summer retaliated with much more fire and viciousness as she had when she greeted him.

"You're a cheerleader Sum, not the next Mohammad Ali." Zach laughed as he threw a punch of his own on the bag. "Why don't you just stick to your strengths?"

"Wow, aren't you a sweetheart. Now if you're done insulting me, can you please get the hell out of my room."

"Summer. I wasn't-…"

"-Can you please just leave." She pleaded as she felt her eyes begin to turn glassy. Not that she was upset about what he said, more along the lines of mad at herself for still having to put up with him.

"Whatever fine." Zach sighed and turned to walk out the door. "We're going to have to talk sometime Summer."

"I'll be counting down the days." She snarled sarcastically and plastered the biggest fake smile she could muster. Zach shook his head and closed his eyes as he exited the room.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Seth slowly made his way through the windy and of course gorgeous streets of Newport. His routine for going to the gym, consisted of walking through every strip of Newport that he could find. He was beginning to warm up to this place, and the startling views and calming daily breezes certainly played a part. That; and the fact that the one person that had been roaming around in his mind since he arrived lived here also.

He roamed along the boardwalk on the pier, glancing in stores from time to time, but was startled by his phone ringing abruptly.

"Hello?"

"Seth." He cringed at the sound of her voice. Since leaving Brooklyn, he had trained himself to completely erase her from his head.

"Its you." He said as if clarifying to himself that it _was_ indeed the girl that managed to rip out his heart. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk and see how you're doing."

"Oh now you want to talk. It's a little too late for that. There's nothing to say. Bye" He made a move to snap the phone shut, but her pleading voice caused him to halt.

"Wait. Come on Seth, you can't honestly say your not doing the same thing." She fired back, the brief glimpse of sorrow in her voice completely vanished. She was now getting just as frustrated as Seth.

"No, I didn't. I got here, and you were still the only thing on my mind."

"Ha ha, yeah right." She exclaimed, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "I know exactly who you are, so don't try and act so innocent."

The conversation carried on, Seth decided he was enjoying letting out his anger and firing back insult after insult to his ex. He cut across the boardwalk and leaned against the handrail, staring out into the ocean.

Summer casually strolled down the pier. Like Seth, it always managed to calm her down and give her some peace and serenity. She spotted a curly-haired guy leaned against the rail, getting really into his conversation. She could tell just by his hand gestures he was making, that he wasn't too pleased. It was when he turned to the side and let out a sarcastic laugh, that she realized who it was.

She felt herself already beginning to smile, and took an extra jump in her step as she strode over to meet him. It was definitely a sign if she was more excited to see some boy she had one conversation more than see her boyfriend; something about that wasn't right.

"Tell Jake next time I see him, he's dead."

"Jake's more of a boyfriend than you could ever be Seth. You probably already have a line of sluts waiting on you." Seth sighed heavily, and decided to give her a dose of her own medicine.

"Actually you're right-…"

"-See, I told you. Once a bad ass prick, always a bad ass prick." Summer settled up behind, as if ready to surprise him. She smirked as she heard the person on the other line, wailing insult after insult at him, yet he managed to continue smiling.

"Yeah, and she's real hot Tara. I mean, you couldn't hold a candle up to this girl, I heard she's captain of the cheerleading squad here, that means it's only a matter of time before I get her just as easily as I landed you."

Seth smiled to himself, satisfied with his choice of words. Giving her a dose of her own medicine really was comforting and relaxing as he expected. He figured even if none of that had already happened, or even were going to happen, it didn't hurt to lie. Spinning the truth was one of Seth Cohen's good qualities, ashamedly. That was part of his charm down in Brooklyn, nobody ever would find out the real him, so they all settled for the protective shield personality he had wrapped around himself

"You're such an asshole Seth. Don't ever call me again."

"What? You called me." Seth called, but it was too late as she had already hung up before he responded. If that wasn't the strangest conversation he'd ever had, he didn't know what was.

He casually slipped his phone back in his pocket, and turned around to continue making his way down the pier and toward the school. He turned, and was stunned to see who was behind him, Summer.

"Summer, uhh wow hi." He trembled as he struggled to find the words. He couldn't tell if she had heard anything he just said, but still didn't stop from getting tongue-tied for the second time since he arrived just at the sight of her. "How much of that did you catch?"

"Enough." She uttered out barely above a whisper and turned on her heel, beginning to scamper away.

"Wait, wait, wait hold up." He took one stride to match her determined, petite frame trotting as fast as her legs could take her. He grabbed firmly onto her shoulder, which urged her to stop. He walked forward to face her and stop her from making a mad dash.

"What do you want?" She mumbled and avoided his gaze, she was not pleased in the slightest.

"I feel like I've got some explaining to do…"

"No, no you don't. Everything is now crystal clear!" She perked up sarcastically and plastered a fake smile on her face. "Can I go now?" She sighed impatiently, still not facing him; all signs of the sarcastic cheerfulness gone.

"Just hear me out, I think you got the wrong idea about-"

"-No, I think I know all there is to know about you now. You're a cocky prick just like all the other guys…"

"You don't understand, I wasn't talking about you." Seth began reeling for some sort of way to get out of this 100 avoidable situation. If only his ego had taken a backseat and he fought the urge to match Tara insult for insult. Then he wouldn't be in this situation, trying to cover up and absolute lie.

"Ha ha right…" She scoffed, her words dripping with sarcasm. "I should've known you'd turn out to be an asshole…" She shook free from his grasp and continued her wrath down the pier.

She was well on her way down the boardwalk, but could still feel Seth's eyes burning holes into her back. She fought the urge to look back and eventually wound her way around a beach shop and out of sight. Her eyes glistened with tears, but not tears of hurt or fear. She was more angry and disappointed than anything.

Seth, to her, represented freedom, hell even a new life. It hurt that much more to know that she put that much faith in him to turn into the dream guy after one run-in at school. He was supposed to be the good guy; a savior if you will, the one to finally rescue her from her depressing life. He just seemed so different and unique to her the other day, that it caused her to put too much dependence in a guy she had only seen once. She got her hopes up, and for the millionth time in her life they were shot down and shattered.

Seth remained stiff and still on the boardwalk, as numerous pedestrians continued their daily routine and passed by him nonchalantly. None of them, having just committed the biggest mistake of their very short lives.

That couldn't have gone any worse. Save for her hearing about his sluttish ways back in Brooklyn, but that was for another time. So there was still a glimmer of hope, though the door was very slim to none.

He didn't know what he was doing any more, what was what, which was which. But what he did know, was that he never looked at Summer as a trophy wife or some sort of possession. Had this been back in his old town, maybe but certainly not here. He was determined to be a changed man, a new beginning for the second time in his life.

And if he was going to do that, something certainly needed to be done…

**So that's it. I look at this chap as kind of a filler because of how short it is, at least for me. But still it contains big drama and sets the outline for the story. Lots more drama coming your way.**

**10 points for form. Playing for fun.**


	5. The Freshman Experience

**Hey, back again. Sorry for the long wait in between updates. School has just started again, and the first week always is tough to readjust. But I promise if I don't get updates out quicker in between the week, I'll always have one on weekends. At least I hope, please don't hold me for my word but I'll try!**

**This chapter is a bit long, only because there is a lot going on. Sorry again, enjoy. I apologize for it being too long, it won't always be like this.**

**Freshman Hazing**

Seth slowly opened his eyes to welcome the morning, with sorrow written all over him. He stared blankly at the ceiling, getting transfixed with the different images that stuck out to him in the popcorn ceiling, and checked the clock. Not only was he up far too early, it was also Monday…the first day of school.

He ever so _graciously _stumbled over to his door, threw on a robe, and bounded out the door and down the stairs.

"Hey man. Good morning." Ryan replied extra cheerfully than usual, causing Seth to narrow his eyes at him. He shook it off and trudged over to the coffee machine, with Ryan sipping away on his already.

Eventually Sandy and Kirsten made their _grand_ entrance, linked by the hand and giggling their way down the hall and into the kitchen.

"Morning." Ryan bellowed again, causing both the Cohen's to smile but also wonder what was up.

"Good morning you guys…"

"Excited for school? I worked real hard to squeeze you guys into that school last minute so-…" Kirsten inquired as she fixed her usual breakfast.

"Yeah, I'm actually pretty eager to get there." Ryan chimed in again, with a smile.

"Oh really, and why's that?" Sandy questioned as he picked up the paper and lightly skimmed through it. Ryan just shrugged it off and continued to sip on his coffee.

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm a little freaked out about school now…I mean, Ryan's smiling…" Seth chimed in, finally receiving the coveted Atwood grunt and glare that had eluded so far that morning until now.

"That's enough about Ryan. Now Don Juan, I thought you were so _ecstatic_ about going to school?" Sandy asked and Ryan snickered.

"Maybe for basketball to start, but other than that, no I'm not looking forward to school."

"Oh and why's that, still miss your dear Tara? Or is umm, winter the new girl now?" Ryan snickered, and Seth smiled weakly but it more or less came out as a grimace. Ryan's smile quickly faded when Seth wasn't quick to respond and was struggling to just smile. He had thought Seth was long over Tara, so he figured it was now safe to poke fun at each other's exes. Unless, something happened that he was unaware of…

_First of all RYAN, her name is Summer. God I hate when he purposely does that just to piss me off. He knows I'm not nearly as tough as he is. _Seth said self-consciously as he became quiet and began pondering thoughts around in his head.

It was true though. Seth learned that the hard way when Ryan was first brought in and Seth thought he was king shit, but my was he terribly wrong. A "just for fun" wrestling matched turned into a massacre on Seth's part. No womanizing or basketball skills could compete with the pure street smarts and tough edge that Ryan possessed from his old neighborhood.

Any talk or thought of Tara was now beginning to eat away at him more than usual. Partially, because she represented the destruction of his life, which coincidentally happened at the hands of her. She ruined his semi-relationship he had had at the time with Summer, with one single phone call. She surely wasn't going to talk to again, much less look at him.

An awkward vibe surrounded the Cohen kitchen since Ryan's last attempted joke which failed miserably, and all four were left in silence. Kirsten, being the perfectionist that she was, just could not settle for awkward.

"So I hope you guys have fun today at school, but I've gotta run."

"Will I be seeing you for lunch?" Sandy inquired as he too rose to begin to prepare for work.

"Umm no sorry, I've got a lunch dat- meeting with Jimmy." She smiled warmly to cover up her mistake and crossed the room to properly say "goodbye" to her husband. Sandy sighed angrily but was halted by his wife wrapping her arms around his waist. It wasn't that Kirsten was being unfaithful, it was more being caught up back in her highschool days.

"Oh god that's just wrong you guys, its too early." Seth finally spoke up after being quiet for so long, which brought a smile to Ryan's face. He was afraid he had offended him more than he was letting on. If there was one thing he hated doing, it was upsetting a Cohen. It could possibly even drive him to the point of claiming he was a disappointment to them and asking for them to release him, which would never happen.

"Ryan, I'll see you after school to finish painting the dining room."

"Alright, you got it dad. Seth, you ready to go?" Ryan's smile crept up on him again in anticipation for what was hopefully still waiting for him at school.

"Yeah." He sprang from his seat and began to head towards the door to follow Ryan.

"Wait up there, Seth I need you back here too so we can finish up."

"Umm, I'm sorry dad. I believe you said something along the lines of 'painting' earlier, which sounds a lot to me like work. I've got umm basketball practice anyway." He lied, actually it wasn't really a lie. He _did_ have practice but he could easily make it back in time, if he _wanted_.

"But I'll get back still Sandy, just have to talk to someone first." Ryan gave another genuine smile to his parents, than turned to head to the door.

"Dude stop smiling, its creeping me out." Seth hollered as he chased after him out the door, leaving his parents chuckling in the kitchen.

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"Oh boy I can't do this."

"Seth, its just high school."

They both eyed the scene of Harbor High, Seth feeling like his insides were going to explode while Ryan was the same but just had a better way of showing it. Not only were these kids similar to the ones that teased and ignored him back in the day, but it was also an entirely new environment from back in Brooklyn.

"Yeah but that was before all that happened."

"Seth just talk to her and explain things, she'll understand. If she doesn't, she's the most shallow and low person I've ever known." They trudged from the car park, emerging from Sandy's old beaten down car, and already were receiving weird looks. Not only did their car look like a piece of crap, but also they weren't necessarily dressed to "Newport" standards.

Ryan, clad in his traditional wife beater and jeans which was unknown to everyone, Seth dressed in a novelty tee and jeans. It wasn't necessarily their fault, this was how they always dressed in back in Brooklyn, and everyone seemed to accept them as who they were. It was the complete opposite here, where looks were everything, and that terrified Seth. Add on the fact that with their now new found cash, Sandy decided to buy just two vehicles for him and Kirsten, dumping their old car on them. _How nice of him?_

"I've heard stories about people like us Ryan, and none of them ended particularly good." Seth whispered as they both continued staring out at the scene and receiving off-looks from passing students. Everyone was frolicking about, talking about their summer's, _the season not the…well you know girl_, and their upcoming schedules.

Ryan was surprised at how hard Seth was taking everything. This was definitely a side of him he had never seen before. To him, Seth always seemed to be the more relaxed of the two, but not today. He had never acted quite like this before.

"Just go with it man." Ryan mumbled as his eyes landed on the one girl that had been making him smile all day, Marissa. She was chatting away with some guy he had never seen before. He had Hollister written all over him.

"-umm reality check, as you see today is definitely not the day for 'Seth Cohen relax' day, I'm a wreck. I told you all about this." He mumbled nervously as he eyed the surroundings, but more importantly for Summer. That girl was turning him into a complete mess, and all over things that should never have came out. If he had kept his mouth shut, he would surely be chatting up a storm with her now.

He wasn't afraid of any guys here, they all seemed cocky, arrogant and stuck up, just as Summer had so falsely depicted him during her rant at the pier. He felt he could hold his own if ever needed.

"Just think calm and collective, and you'll be fine." Ryan patted him on the shoulder. "I'm gonna head to class now, see you at lunch." He uttered, as he was clearly more interested in what was across the courtyard.

"Okay see yeah…" Ryan scampered away, leaving Seth standing alone. He received some glares from the guys, which he just shrugged off and ignored. These guys definitely didn't intimidate him. He felt like Ryan back when he first attended school in Brooklyn, wanting to pound every face he saw.

"Alright…calm and collective Cohen, surely you can do this. You've already gone through this once, you can do it again." He said to himself as memories of his first day in Brooklyn came back, when he was afraid if he would be accepted, which he was. Here though, was a hell of a different story.

He treaded down the stairs, in the direction Ryan sprung off in, and noticed a few girls hanging out by the railing, clearly eyeing him up. He used the signature Cohen smile, dimples and all, and they grew flushed and smiled sheepishly.

_Hmm…clearly things would be okay in the ladies department, but there is one in particular I'm looking for…_

"Oh god, there she is."

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"_Sum! Like oh my god how was your break?" Elizabeth, one of the most conceded girls in the school, bounded up to her. Summer was not in a good mood to say the least._

"_Hey Liz! Oh you know, awesome!" She lied, plastering a fake smile on her face that could be seen for miles, but evidently it was good enough for Liz._

"_That's good, I'll catch up with you later to talk about this year's cheerleading squad. Muah, love you!" The girl pranced away, grinning like an idiot. Oh god, cheerleading. Boy was she ever looking forward to that! This school was just not doing wonders for her anymore._

_Not only did Zach catch the hint about taking a break, as his hand was linked with hers, but she now had to sit back and watch her best friend flirt around with the brother of that __**guy**__. She refused to even acknowledge him now._

_About the Zach issue, she couldn't do anything now like try get to his thick skull and say that she needed a break, because he made clear rules when they first started going out that they could never make a scene revolving their relationship in fear that they'd jeopardize their reputation. Did that ever look like a joke now that she looked at it today._

_Zach finally let go of squeezing her hand rather harshly, his sign that he still had the hottest girl in the school, and bounded off toward his basketball/water polo buddies. Summer rubbed her hand and snarled in Zach's direction, only to meet the eyes of another person she didn't want to see just a few yards behind him, the __**guy**_

_Zach laughed loudly and searched the courtyard to make sure his girlfriend was still in sight, and he found her, locking eyes with something behind him. He turned and saw what she was looking at, some punk kid walking around like he owned the school…He was just going to have to 'inform' the kid what was what around here…_

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Seth gulped as she finally locked eyes with her and continued on walking toward the main doors, which coincidently was right beside her. He could see the hurt in her eyes, but also the sheer hatred she now possessed because of him. She didn't seem to impressed to see him, but he wasn't going to waste any time in letting that bother him. He had to make things right, and now. He was about 20 feet away from her, and she crossed her arms and turned to chat with one of her nearby friends.

That stung, to say the least but he managed to take his eyes off her and sigh. All the attention was finally was shifted away from him after everyone seeing his car and his attire for the first time, and everything seemed back to normal. Actually nobody was looking at him, he was merely a ghost.

He set his eyes back on Summer, determined to fix things. He continued along the path, not bothering to easily cut through the grass and reach her quicker. He kept his gaze fixed on her as his head was now completely facing the left, which was his downfall right there. Unaware of the unexpected left turn, Seth walked directly into the school directory sign, tumbling to the ground and underneath it.

Understatement of the year would be to say he wasn't humiliated.

"Oh my god, that was not calm and collective Seth!" He uttered under his breath and closed his eyes. Ryan, from across the courtyard, started laughing and shaking his head. It was one of the funniest things he'd ever seen, but refused to laugh too loudly in fear that someone would catch on to what he was looking at. He'd save Seth the embarrassment.

"Hey you…that was quite a spill." He looked up to see a blonde girl giggling as she looked down on him. Seth blushed and felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

"Ugghh…there was two sides to that sign…and both hurt equally as much." He grunted as he sat up to face her.

"Well, you got 10 points for form on that one." She giggled again, causing Seth to smile. "I'm Elizabeth, but call me Liz."

"Hey, I'm Seth. I wish we were being introduced under better circumstances." He referred to the sign run-in. "But I'm going to be late, I've gotta find my class."

"What? Why? Classes don't start till'10:30, grade nine orientation."

"What! Really, oh god I feel like an idiot." He smacked his forehead, referring to the run-in _and_ his mess-up regarding the school time.

"Well that was obviously a freshmen mistake." She laughed silently again as Seth's eyes started scanning around the school courtyard to see if anyone caught onto that. "Don't worry, nobody saw."

"Thank god." He got to his feet. "And I'm not a freshmen, its my junior year."

"Junior huh?" She furrowed her brow and bit her lip seductively, a look that was driving him insane. "Well I am too…Looks like I'll be seeing you around _Seth_."

He smiled nervously. "S-See yeah." She smiled once more, than pranced away and found her friends. He watched as she bounded up to them all giddy and happy, clearly achieved by her talk with him. He must be a wanted man, no complaint there.

After Marissa left to go find that guy she was talking with earlier, Ryan finally decided to check up on Seth, but it wasn't that, it was more or less tell him he saw everything and that he was an idiot. He quickly crept up toward him and stood beside him, grinning.

"That's not quite what I meant by _calm and collective_."

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Since, unbeknownst to Seth and Ryan earlier, classes started at 10:30, they officially didn't actually commence until 11. It was a shortened day, which meant he only had 2 classes the entire day. Everything went by like a blur, not to mention nobody even attended the classes accept for the nerds and well…him, soon enough school was over and it was time for practice.

He hadn't done much conditioning over the summer, so surely he was going to be a bit rusty. He entered the dressing room, and everybody went quiet. The kid Ryan saw talking to Marissa earlier and some Stephens guy quickly exited the room, followed by the entourage of hopefully boys wishing to make the team. Stephens, from the back of his jersey, seemed a bit too into himself if you asked him. He shrugged off his ill feelings towards the Stephens kid, and hurriedly finished getting ready.

"-For most of you guys returning from last year, don't think you have a free ticket on this team." Zach scoffed at the now fearful faces of some of the boys who feared their reputation could be instantly shot down if they didn't make it. "You too Stephens…" Zach instantly shut up.

"We had a hell of a season last year, now we've got to build off of it. Good luck to everyone, and leave it all on the court boys…Let's g-…" The coach was interrupted by a door slam, and all heads turned in the direction of the change room. Seth emerged, with a bright red face and quickly trotted over to the group.

"And just who do you think you are?" Coach Williams barked as he faced the boy who interrupted him.

"Uhh Seth Cohen, sir." Seth held his hand out to shake as the coach approached, and the guys snickered and Seth grew uncomfortable quickly. He wasn't used to being put out on the spot like this for a school team. He was always the most praised player.

"I don't want to shake your hand, and quite frankly I could care less who you are. If you show up at my gym, try out for my team…you show up on time."

"Yes sir." The guys laughed again, and the coach even felt himself breaking down from his usual rough edge. This poor kid was too easy attack.

"Now give me a hundred pushups, and make it quick. Rory over there, will time you." He pointed to a tall, skinny man with a stopwatch, who looked none too happy to be there. "Get going!" He barked as Seth was still on his feet and not commencing with his pushups

40 minutes later, and 250 pushups later, Seth was finally done. He had to restart twice because his chest didn't hit the ground on his final pushup, and the other time just out of pure torture.

"Alright Cohen, you're in." Coach Williams sighed as Seth trotted over to him, though he was still extremely tired, he still possessed an amazing work ethic which refused for him to take a break.

The team had broken into a scrimmage for the final 20 minutes of the shortened practice, due to the shortened day. Seth viewed the ongoing game and could pick out just from his basketball knowledge who the key players for their team were. The two that seemed to stick out to him were the guy that Ryan said was with Marissa and Stephens. He viewed their jerseys from last year, and got the first guys last name. Ward and Stephens. The two guys he was going to exploit.

The game came to a halt, allowing Seth to sub on. He received glares from the veteran players on the team, but shook them off as he in bounded the ball. He passed it off to a relatively short kid, and locked eyes on the coaching staff in the background. He never experienced this sort of trial coach Williams was putting him on, he had never been tested this hard. But that was expected at a more elite school than his previous one.

He concentrated back on the game, and just as expected Stephens and Ward were slacking off on D like it was unnecessary. Both sporting the yellow practice pennies, Seth's green team began to work the ball around, deliberately avoiding him. Everyone could sense that he was unwanted, just from Zach's looks and Luke's glares, so the remaining green team caught on and joined them. Seth remained posted outside on the 3 point line, clapping his hands furiously for the ball.

"Fleming hit Cohen!" Coach Williams barked but the boy didn't listen. He instead chose to pass to the other wide open wingman in the corner who was ready for the open three point shot. As the ball was passing by, Seth couldn't take it anymore and lunged in front to intercept it.

He quickly bounded backward and dribbled along the 3 point line, forcing a lazy Zach to trot out to the line to meet him. He made a quick juke move to the left, dragging Zach along with him, than crossed over, leaving him in the dust. He attacked the basket head on with only Luke left in the area to defend. He spun around his lousy D and did a reverse lay-up under the basket. Silence surrounded the court, the only noise coming from that of the A/C and the slowly dying basketball as it lost its bounce.

The coaches were stunned in the purest sense of the word, also fearing as this unknown kid just whipped through their two best players like nothing.

"U-Uhh that'll be all boys. See you on, umm… W-Wednesday isn't it Rory?" Coach Williams wrote down on his clipboard as he and the team tried to recover from the play.

"Yeah."

"Alright now get outta here." The coach roared, trying to maintain his edgy coaching style after it being stifled by the Cohen kid.

The boys trudged off the court and toward the dressing room, all tired from the practice. Seth still felt like he could go for hours even after the near 1 minute scrimmage and 250 pushups he endured. One Cohen trait that stuck with him was the drive and desire, it was all there.

"What's your deal man?" some red haired kid hissed at Seth and rolled his eyes at him.

"Who do you think you are? Jordan?" Another muttered at him as they all entered the dressing room. Zach and Luke were last to enter the room, and it fell silent once again. Until Zach broke it by laughing loudly and obnoxiously.

"Wow! That was quite a show you put on out there punk." He laughed and shook his head. "But why don't you tone it down a bit, it's the first day of practice." Everyone snickered as a few jumped in the shower and others proceeded to head home to do so. "I mean, why don't you help the ones that are actually going to make this team?" Zach scoffed and walked out the door, followed by his other followers with bags in tow.

Seth sighed, it was going to be a lot harder than he thought to win these guys over. But if nobody tried at first practice, did he actually _want_ to be friends with these clowns? Back in Brooklyn, you had to fight for your minutes.

He rolled his eyes and proceeded to grab his towel to take a shower in the neatly kept showers. He kept his bag and clothes at his locker, and scampered through the quiet lockers spare for the few remaining players, and hoped in the shower.

Meanwhile outside the lockers, the players were having a convention.

"Are you going to let that kid come in here and show you up like that?"

"Shut up Fleming, we weren't even trying."

"Yeah, he's lucky coach ended it early, or we would've totally schooled that kid."

"I'm just saying…"

"Shut up Fleming, trust me, paybacks a bitch for that kid. Come on."

15 minutes later, after a relaxing shower, Seth emerged with a smile on his face. He just couldn't wipe the smile off his face; consider he had surely just impressed the coaching staff with his play.

He reached to the right hanger to find his hanger and hit air; he turned fully toward it puzzled to find nothing there. He furrowed his brow, than figured he must've left it by his locker with the rest of his bag. He scampered across the cold tile floor and round the rows of lockers, to come up to his and find nothing there.

"What the hell?" He heard a door slam from behind and some loud footsteps running down the hall outside, laughing furiously away. "Oh come on!" He shouted and checked and rechecked lockers for his stuff. He was stuck, with nothing, at the most prestigious school in Southern California. Nothing!

He checked the gym side door to see if he could sneak in and grab a spare jersey, basketball or something to help him out. But just his luck, it was locked. His only hope was to go out into the hopefully empty hall and go around to the gym doors.

He grabbed a small bench suited for only one person and placed promptly over his lower region, and etched the hallway door open quiet to make sure the coast was clear. He sighed, and trudged out into the hall…This was the most embarrassing day to date.

Since the gymnasium was a building in its own, the halls were filled with sports offices and even their own trainer's office. He kept his back to the hallway, focusing on finding the gym entrance doors around the corner.

He descended the small flight of stairs and flung the door open, soon to reveal the gym floor. He began to arrange himself so he _and _the bench could both fit through the door.

"God this has to be the most embarrassing-…" He trailed off as he took notice of not so much _what_ was in front of him, more or less _who_ was. "S-S-Summer…"

_The one, the only._

**Coming up next: the walk of shame. Revolutions.**

**The next chapter is tied in with this one,because I didn't feel like having like a 10,000 word chapter. So its mixed into two parts.**

**Review.**


	6. Best Day Ever

**So heres the next chapter, I hope I get some good reviews for this one because I put a lot of time into this. I was actually finished it 2 days ago, but decided to edit it. But enough of the wait, here it is!**

**Read, review, enjoy.**

**Best. Day. Ever.**

"_God this has to be the most embarrassing-…" He trailed off as he took notice of not so much what was in front of him, more or less who was. "S-S-Summer…"_

_The one, the only._

"Ummmm h-hi." He stammered out and could feel his cheeks becoming visibly flushed. He was near naked with only a damn bench to cover up, and to top things off, _she_ had to be the one to see it.

"…Hi." She uttered back, followed by a choked up laugh that gave Seth the more reason to feel embarrassed. The one girl whom he'd been trying all week to be at least friends with again just _had_ to be the one who caught him looking like this.

"Okay so this is umm…embarrassing."

"Actually no it isn't, its quite amusing."

He shuffled on the spot, but kept a firm grip on the bench which supplied his only source of shelter for his manhood. Awkward silence fell over the two, Summer taking it has a chance to laugh, but also get a good _view_ at the whole situation. This didn't go unnoticed to Seth, who started grinning broadly once he saw her eyes beginning to run up and down his body.

"See anything you like?" He replied with a seductive edge, smirking at her once she looked up at him.

"W-What? No, I mean, ew!" She shook off any of the butterflies fluttering around in the pit of her stomach which formed just at the site of seeing him.

"Sure…"

"Whatever Sid, I'm leaving." She turned on her heel to leave, knowing full well he'd chase after her. She also knew calling him the wrong name would make him even more determined than he probably already was.

"Wait!" He called as he hopped up the short flight of stairs where she was waiting at the top, looking straight at the exit doors, but grinning at the same time.

"What do you want?" She hissed, causing him to twitch behind the tiny bench.

"Uhh I was wondering if you could give me a lift home, seeing as I don't have a ride and I'm not quite up for the _long_ walk home." He breathed out after his mini-rant, looking expectantly at him.

"No, you're an ass." She said modestly, remembering what he had said about her a few days at the pier. He sighed, he figured she wouldn't have forgotten about that whole incident.

"Yes I know I'm an ass but right now I'm an embarrassed and humiliated ass. Plus, maybe this would give me a chance to explain myself." She eyed his expression, and could tell he was sincere. His eyes were so full of love, even being in his current predicament, that she couldn't continue her bitchy attitude any longer.

"Well…I guess I could give you a lift. But no talking." She sighed, delighted that she was going to get the chance to spend time with him, but pissed at the same time for giving into his act.

"Yes! Oh trust me, I'll be chalk full of quiet." He grinned widely, almost slipping up on his grip of the bench. She laughed at him and shook her head at his antics, figuring it was how he always acted and was pretty much typical. This entrigued her even more to get to know him.

"Alright streaker boy, I'll go pull my car up around front than come back for you."

"To the front? But that's so far away…what if someone see's-…" She gave him the look that clearly said 'don't ask questions'. "I'll be shutting up now." She nodded her head at him, than turned and began to head out the gym doors and toward the car park, smiling all the way.

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10 minutes later, and Seth was becoming anxious. She was probably taking her sweet old time, taking as long as she needed knowing she wasn't the one nearly naked at school. He remained standing in the gym hallway just outside the court, until he couldn't take it any longer and decided to take matters into his own hands.

He opened the gymnasium door, welcoming the well lit court and the fresh breeze from the A/C. He started to look around for something, anything cloth like to help him out here. He jumped up on the bleachers, searching the many rows for any sign of help.

He stumbled upon a lone bag at the very bottom of the bleachers, shoved far into the corner. He searched its contents for anything, throwing out the usual supplies like pencils, papers, books. He came across a super small pair of shorts, small enough to pass as boxers, and threw them on willingly. He continued tossing books out, until one book that caught his eye, more so than the others. It actually had some writing on it, considering it was the first day none of the other books had much work done. But this one, had about hundreds of pages full of material.

He flipped to the first page, startled by the name: _Summer Roberts_

_January 2005_

_Wow! Oh my gosh I can't believe grade nine has finally started! Highschool is like going to be so much fun. Soo many boys, so little time…I ca-…_

He stopped reading and flipped to the next section.

_August 2006_

_When will this end? I can't stand this anymore. Nobody will ever understand me, sometimes I feel so alone._

He studied the words carefully, unable to convince himself that any of those words could come from such a seemingly perfect girl. He flipped ahead several pages, feeling they all contained the same distain as the previous one. He skipped to the last page, the date catching his eye instantly:

_September 3, 2007_

_Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. You should've known it was all too good to be true. You put your faith in a boy and look what happened? You're left broken hearted. And you're the one left feeling like shit._

His eyes bulged out, stunned at the revelation he discovered. Was that _all_ about him? She didn't hate him completely, did she? Did she already write him off before he even had a chance to make things right?

"Seth, there you are. The car's all ready to-…" Summer busted through the gym doors, coming to a halt once she spotted Seth seated on the bleachers going through her bag. If this were any other situation, she would burst out laughing just at the sight of him in her cheerleading wokrout "What are you doing!" She said with authority as she sprinted across the gym floor and quickly reached him. "That's my stuff you jackass!"

"Is the last page about me?"

"Oh my god, you went through my journal?!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, embarrassed about what he may have found, but more pissed that he was so nosy. She latched onto her bag, tugging it out of his grasp. He still held the journal in his other hand, staring at her with a hurt look. "Give me it."

"Is it about me Summer?" He replied, hoping to god it wasn't. He didn't want to be the route for all of this girls negative feelings.

"Wow. The whole world doesn't revolve around you." She snapped as she continued to take swipes at it, though he was holding it at a safe distance away.

"I never meant to hurt you like that." He went straight back to topic, coming to conclusions on his own. "You misunderstood that situation, but I swear I can explain it all."

"I don't want to hear it now. Give it to me." She hollered as she grabbed onto his arms and continued swiping away at the journal.

"No." He yelled right back, holding her off.

"Seth! Give it!"

"Not till you let me explain!"

"Give it to me."

The scene was now an all out struggle at the power teat, Seth was leaning deep into the bleacher seat trying to calm Summer down so he could explain, while Summer was practically startling his waist and swinging at the book in his hand. She never felt more determined before in her life, mainly because there were some contents in that book she hoped to god he didn't see. In any other situation, Seth would be pretty aroused having her in his lap and especially in her current position.

The gym door swung open, but went unbeknownst to the two teens struggling with each other. Until that is, the intruder spoke up. "Ahem." Both Seth and Summer swung their heads around, still in their same positions.

"Oh my god…" Seth panted and lowered his head unconsciously into Summer's chest. Not only did this scene look incredibly sexual, but he was also only covered up in Summer's gym shorts. Seth lifted his head, with embarrassment written all over him and faced the intruder. Summer stifled a giggle, unafraid at all of the intruder. She had no reason to fear, she practically owned the school.

"Hi Mr.Williams…sir." he responded trying to sound sure of himself, but that logic had long left him. The coach remained standing underneath the rim nearest the main doors. Seth was embarrassed out of his mind, and it showed as his face was now turning a stark red. His eyes focused on the coach, afraid of the possibility of his basketball hopes being shattered with one big misunderstanding. Summer's face was directly in front him, grinning at him, no sign of embarrassment on her.

"That was quite a performance today Cohen…"The coach informed, breaking the enormous amount of awkwardness that had mounted.

"Umm…thanks." Mr.Williams nodded in response repeatedly, trying to come to conclusions about this strange, new boy. Goosebumps began to grind their through Seth's very exposed body just at the feeling of this intense awkward feeling.

"…you keep that up you'll have no problem making the team."

"Will do sir."

"Good, good…" the coach nodded, finally seeing Summer's face for the first time, still grinning. "Well, I'll be going now." The two teens nodded, Seth gulping down some of his dignity as well. The coach stalked off, but surveyed their situation one more time and said. "Stay safe you two." He smirked at them briefly, showing his teeth for the first time that day, then strode out the door and to his office.

As soon as the door closed, Summer burst out laughing and snatched the journal out Seth's hands, than finally climbed down off him. Seth breathed a sigh of relief, slouched further into the seat.

"How could you be laughing in a time like this?" Seth managed to force out a grin, even though he was feeling completely humiliated.

"Why not? That was hilarious!"

"For you maybe…" Summer shook her head and continued laughing, giving him a light smack on the shoulder; enjoying their bantering for the first time.

"It was nice to see you get at _least_ a portion of what you deserve, even it only lasted 2 minutes." Seth's growing grin faded slightly, realizing she still hadn't forgiven him yet.

"Yeah? Well you staying on my lap that long didn't help the situation much…" Seth uttered back, and Summer smirked at him.

"Oh well, you deserved it…" Summer stood up and pressed out her outfit, than hopped off the first row of bleachers. "Well than, let's get going."

They trotted through the gym, silence taking them over once again, as the sound of shoes squeaking off the floor roamed the court. They quickly exited the gym, marching hastily up the stairs toward the gym wing exit where Summer's car was waiting. Seth was the first to the door, hoping to make a mad dash to her car, but was halted by the sight on the other side of the door.

"WHERE'S YOUR CAR? I THOUGHT YOU PARKED IT OUT HERE. OH MY GOD, WHAT IF SOMEONE STOLE IT?...OH GOD I'M SO SCREWED!" Seth hollered incredulously as his body froze in the process of welcoming the chilly air. Summer quickly emerged from the gym building, smirking proudly.

"Whoa Seth, take a chill pill. What's the problem?"

"Where's your car? I thought you pulled it around here?" Seth said, more calmed and composed than before.

"You didn't think I'd let you off that easily did you?" She asked while shaking her head in disbelief at him, as she began to tread her way down the narrow walkway leading to the front of the school.

"Oh come on Summer! Have I not been through enough torture for one day? You've more than got your share of revenge to last you a liftetime." Seth whined, pissed that he'd fallen for her little trick and not enjoying the fact he was stuck playing her little game.

He scampered after her, finally catching her just as she turned the corner of the building, exposing them to the hopefully empty car park. But to his sheer horror, there were still ambles of students filing to their cars after various team and group meetings. Summer stalked toward the curb, awaiting any passing traffic before crossing, still smirking.

"This is the worst day of my life…" Seth muttered as the small amount of students began to notice them and more importantly, Seth's "situation". Summer turned as she was walking and saw Seth somberly trotting behind her, humiliated to the fullest. As much as she was enjoying every minute of revenge, she just could not continue her little game when he looked so cute and upset.

"Hey." She stopped and whispered in his ear, causing him to stop abruptly. "Don't worry about it." She said with a million dollar smile he had grown to notice, and to his surprise, entwined her hands with his. He looked down in sheer shock, than back up to her, as she was still smiling warmly. She led them across the parking lot, the whispering students now chalking Seth's appearance up to just another "one of Summer Robert's boys".

Seth allowed Summer to guide him to the car, now absolutely nobody was watching them, and he felt even more passion for this girl. She was just so unique, and well…amazing.

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"So you must be pretty good at basketball for Mr. Williams to say all of that stuff about you…" Seth just shrugged as he leaned against the passenger window, taking in the beautiful views of Newport with the setting sun fading down on them.

"I guess so. I was the best player on my team back home."

"Uh huh…" Summer uttered as she focused not only on the road, but also what to say next to this boy. She never felt so uncomfortable, yet scared in her life. "So where exactly are you from, I can't remember if you told me."

"Brooklyn…I mean its nothing like this, but…it was home, you know?" Seth finally turned to face her, trying to convince her he wasn't some poor street kid that struck it rich with his grandfather. She nodded and gave her signature smile without her eyes leaving the road. "I miss it sometimes…more so lately."

"I can imagine you do. I wouldn't know what it feels like to leave home."

"I've done it twice now. We started out in Berkeley, it was horrible there. Nobody liked me and I just couldn't fit in so when the opportunity came up to move, we took it." Summer nodded, encouraging him to go on. "I spent most my childhood in Brooklyn, and I loved it. It was so much easier fitting in there than it is here, nobody judged. They just accepted you as you were, and that's what I loved about it.

"If you love it back there, than why the hell would you come here?"

"I see you're a fan of this place too…" Seth muttered, causing Summer to briefly laugh. "My mom's company got moved here because supposedly this is the next big place for building."

"Oh, well things seem to be going better now than they were than when you were in Berkeley, judging from what you've told me." Seth snapped his head around from staring out the window, and narrowed his eyes at her until she finally noticed him." Well I mean, aside from today." She giggled and Seth smiled back at her, really enjoying her company.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that though." He replied quietly, causing fear to temporarily soar through her. She didn't like the prospect of him not enjoying himself, leading to him leaving, leading to her feeling miserable again. Truth was he had revived her in more ways than one.

"Why? What's wrong now?"

"I don't know, I just don't seem to be fitting in, people are giving me a real hard time lately."

"Who could possibly giving you a hard time in a preppy, slutty school like Harbor?" Summer asked, smiling as Seth smirked briefly but continued on.

"Why don't you ask, oh let's say, the entire basketball team."

"Oh god, those guys! Don't worry about them, they're all a bunch of tools. I should know, they've all been trying to get with me ever since high school started; trust me though, you're better off without them." She said sincerely, than reached across and grabbed his hand for the second time that day, startling Seth once again. Seth smiled as he thought of Summer's words, realizing she was right in more ways than one.

"I feel much better now." She giggled at him and shook her head at his adorable banter, than concentrated on the road as the red light turned that they were stopped at. "So, does that m-mean, y-you're uuuummmm…d-d you have a b-boyfriend?" Summer froze up, not able to think of a decent answer. She was sure she was having a good time with Seth, but was still disappointed from what happened between them before school started. Add in the fact that Zach very well still believed that they were an item, and you've got one confused girl.

"Ummm yeah."she lied, but felt better once she saw his eyes light up with delight. "You?" she replied unaware of anything she said, instead she was entranced in his chocolate brown orbs.

"Do I have a boyfriend Summer? Thankfully No, no I don't." Seth laughed, feeling more relaxed and sure of himself, Summer's face turned red and she giggled nervously. "I know what you meant, and no I don't."

"Wow Cohen, you're like the only the guy on the basketball team I can tolerate."

"I'm not exactly _on_ the team yet, so don't jinx it…and Cohen? What's with that?"

"Its your last name." she said dumbfounded and rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, why don't you call me by I don't know, my actual name?"

"Seth seems boring. Nope, Cohen's much better." Summer smiled in response. She felt a tad bit childish and girly by taking the long way home from school, in the process extending a trip originally only 5 minutes into 15 minutes. It was as if she was in grade nine or something all over again, opposed of being the queen bee she currently was.

"So since it appears we have time, I was wondering if I could talk about what happened last week." Her grip on the wheel tightened, and felt an instant dullness surge through her. She knew exactly what he was talking about. She had never felt more hurt and upset in her lift, and it was all her fault. Putting too much faith in a boy only led to heartache, an tactic she hoped to never experience again.

"So where exactly do you live?" She asked, ignoring his original plea. She would rather go on pretending it never happened opposed to confronting it and getting a big argument. The argument, she knew, was inevitable, but she just didn't want to go through that _right _now and especially in the car.

"Summer." Seth replied strongly, but sighed once he realized she wasn't going to give in. He knew they would never make progress in at _least_ developing a _friendship_ until they resolved that, something he figured could be fixed in a matter of minutes once she understood the situation.

"I'm on that street." He pointed ahead to the street surrounded by the biggest houses in Newport, the ones Summer and her father in particular, always liked to think they were the richest in the community even though they weren't on Sunset Boulevard.

"Wow, you have a bigger house than me. I'm impressed, looks like my dad has competition." She explained, finally breaking the tension that quickly built in the car.

"Why is your dad some sort of power freak or something?" Seth asked, not worried he offended her in any way by sending a jibe at her father. He began to unbuckle his seatbelt as she pulled into his driveway.

"Something like that…" She confirmed as she shifted into park, and he began to open the door.

"Alright, well thanks for the ride…and maybe if you could keep this…" he pointed to his attire. "on the DL. That would be great." She giggled and nodded. "I'll get you these back once I wash them." He pointed to her gym shorts, which looked like her boy shorts at home. She stifled a laugh, and nodded again. He began to close the door, but stopped.

"Hey!" she looked up from dozing off into the steering wheel to his attentive eyes. "Maybe we could hangout sometime. You know, at school or even umm a-after if you want." Seth mentally smacked himself for sounding so pathetic. Something about this girl caused him to crumble right before her feet every time he opened his mouth in front of her. She sensed his nervousness, and smiled at his adorableness.

"Sure. That would be great."

"And maybe at school, I don't know, instead of acting like complete strangers, we could be ummm maybe acquaintances? If thats alright with you?" She nodded, understanding exactly what he was talking about.

"Yeah…I know what you mean." He shot her his signature grin, attached with those dimples he used to hate that is until he reached high school and realized it was a turn-on, he slammed the door shut and started trotting away.

Summer sighed; she sure was in over her head now. She just made a complicated situation even more complicated. She was lying to Seth, and _still_ somehow left with Zach of all people in the equation. She looked up, seeing Seth waving frantically away from his doorstep, seeing her off before he went in, which was just another minute he was left out in the open looking like _that_. She laughed, waved, than was on her way; with a lot to ponder.

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Seth lightly creaked the door of the Cohen home open, and shut it quietly. It wasn't as if anyone was sleeping, it was more in an attempt not to be seen. He turned and began to tiptoe toward the stairs. He reached the first step, and thought he was home free.

"Seth! There you are. How was practice? You make a good impression on them, because I'm sure the-…" Sandy hollered from the kitchen and began rambling away as he headed toward Seth, actually coming to a loss for words when he reached his son. "Wow. That good huh?" he uttered after taking in his son.

"Sandy? Did you say Seth was here?" Kirsten called from the living room, and she quickly scampered around the lone pillar pole separating the rooms to enter the foyer where Seth and Sandy waited. "Oh my god." Sandy started chuckling, and Kirsten too was at a loss for words.

Awkward silence fell over the Cohen's, the odd crackle from Sandy being the only noise.

"Umm where's Ry at?" Seth asked, and just his luck, his worries were confirmed. The door sprung open, with Ryan entering with a grin on his face after spending sometime with Marissa down at the pier.

"You look like hell." Ryan stated.

"Nice to see you to."

"You have a good day son?" Sandy questioned, receiving an eye roll from Seth.

"This is weird, I'm just going to…-."

"-go get changed?" Kirsten chimed in, embarrassed for her son.

"Yeah."

"Good idea." Ryan chimed in. Seth sighed, and shook his head, before treading up the stairs, leaving the remaining Cohen's each with mixed emotions. Ryan and Sandy finding it hysterical, while Kirsten felt bad.

"Where are you going?" She asked her husband as Sandy swiftly cut in between her and Ryan and began trotting toward the kitchen.

"I'm going to find the camera, this is too good to pass up." He hollered as Kirsten quickly reacted and started chasing him, trying to spare Seth the embarrassment of facing that photo years down the line.

_**A great first day of school…best on record.**_

**Okay so most of this chapter is dialogue, but I still like it because its got key ideas and future plots forming in it. Also, I don't know the exact street the Cohen's live on or if it was ever even mentioned, so I just made my own up.**

**Please review and tell me what you think, I felt this was a good chapter, just like how I felt for the last one. I wasn't too happy with the reviews I got, though those that do I'm grateful. I wish I could get more though.**

**Review.**


	7. At The Bottom Of Everything

**Title is a song by Bright Eyes.**

**At The Bottom Of Everything**

The next morning, Seth woke up bright and early to the bright sunlight dashing its way through the curtains and to the smell of fresh coffee. He groggily rolled over to the other side of the bed and checked the clock. It was still far too early for a Cohen to be awake, but Ryan on the other hand as most likely up. He rolled off of the bed and snatched his robe off the door handle, than trudged out the door toward the stairs.

Yesterday had been probably one of the worst days of his life to date, and this morning he was in no mood for any quirky reminders of it from Ryan. But since when did Ryan ever take into account Seth's feelings before making fun of him?

All day yesterday was horrible, from having no clothes after his shower, to being seen by Summer, to having Coach Williams see him also, and most of the elite clubs and sports teams at Harbor spotting him out in the parking lot. But the absolute clincher to the whole debacle was the worst wardrobe change probably in history. Trying to get changed and while at the same time being pressed up against the door to keep your _hysterical_ father from taking a picture.

Seth bounded down the stairs and shook his head visibly off the foul memories of the previous day. He entered the kitchen, and as expected, found Ryan already well on his way to preparing a small breakfast for himself and making another pot of coffee.

"Hey man." Ryan announced randomly as he could already sense Seth's presence in the room, not to the mention the immediate foul mood that always seemed to follow him.

"Hey, good morning." Seth sputtered out with not much effort as he rounded the kitchen island and made his way over to the coffee machine. He poured the coffee, welcoming the fresh smell of coffee beans enlighten his body. He decided to just drink it black, as per usual, and continually sipped on it "Man, you and dad sure are kings of the coffee machine…" Seth chimed as he gave the thumbs up to Ryan, one in which Ryan showed no emotion; the events of the previous night of him and Sandy staying up half the night setting the thing up still rung freely in his mind.

"We better be. It took half the night to set the damn thing up." Ryan stated as he had his back to Seth and continually stirred his eggs. Seth finally sat down at the kitchen counter in one of the stools. "So…how was your day yesterday?" Silence immediately followed Ryan's question, and he couldn't help but laugh briefly.

"Not funny man…I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh come on, it couldn't have been that bad. I bet my incident with Marissa was worse than whatever happened to you." Ryan turned to face him, intrigued in finding out exactly why Seth was so bothered by yesterday.

"Yeah right. How could your little _date_ to the pier be as bad as completely destroying your high school reputation?" Seth retorted, _actually_ hoping that his brother was in a worse state than he was.

"Well when me and Marissa were at the pier we went and grabbed some ice cream, but I ended up spilling mine on my shirt." Ryan finished, much to the dismay of Seth. That was child's play compared to what Seth went through.

"Your kidding me, that's it?"

"Pretty bad don't you think?" Ryan asked as he finished up stirring the eggs and moved the pan off of the stove.

"Why don't you try starting your first day at a new school off by running into a school directory sign, oh then have all of your clothes taken while you're showering after practice, be forced to walk around the school with nothing but a bench covering you, only to run into the one girl you can't stop thinking about. Go through all of that _than _see how _bad_ of a day you had." Seth explained, than gaped for air after his tiring rant. Silence fell over the kitchen quicker than you could say 'awkward', but was quickly restored by realization dawning on Ryan as he burst into laughter.

"Oh my god I remember that. That was quite a spill." Ryan stuttered out in between breaths. He was coming to the point of struggling to breathe because of how hard he was laughing.

"Yeah well, thank you for sympathizing with my situation." Seth mumbled as he sipped on his coffee.

"No problem…" Ryan exclaimed as he slowly began to recover and eventually revert back to his silent-self. "So how did basketball practice go? Aside from the whole shower incident."

"I think it went pretty good. The entire team doesn't like me, the coach made me do 250 pushups and I got 1 minute of playing time in the scrimmage."

"You consider that a good practice?"

"It was what I did in that 1 minute Ry that was great…one day when you get older you'll find out." Seth nodded his head confidently, and polished off his coffee. Ryan rolled his eyes behind the cup, and began to dig into his breakfast.

"Captain Commando! Top of the morning." The boys turned their heads as they were greeted by Sandy entering the kitchen, with Kirsten attached at the arm.

"Oh god…" Seth mumbled at his dad's greeting, and the fact his parents continually attempted to live in their golden days by being all over each other. Especially in the kitchen of all places, the one place they made _sure_ they were all over each other.

"You boys ready for school?" Kirsten rolled her eyes at her husband at first, than proceeded with her question. Everyone was already dressed, all except for Seth.

"No…I guess I better go get showered than." Seth sighed heavily than lifted himself off the stool and trudged past Kirsten and a smirking Sandy toward the hallway.

"Make sure you're clothed today son." Sandy hollered back down the hallway, and grinned.

"Will do father." Seth yelled back as his voice faded away as he made his way up the stairs.

* * *

Summer hopped out of her BMW and welcomed the fresh California breeze to her face. Though it was a Tuesday, the second day of the school year, it was times like these that she enjoyed the most. Nobody was around closely monitoring her, no boy was watching and waiting for some sort of wink or look, no girl was waiting for a slip up or for her to make a fool of herself so they could dethrone her. Nope, it was just her. 

But that moment of inertia was quickly swept away as the results of being the queen bee and dating the prom king, was what was in front of her now. 3, way too happy for a Tuesday morning, girls came scampering across the parking lot to greet her.

"Oh my gosh Summer! We've been looking around all over for you. We made a pact to always enter together, remember?" Liz, one of the more intense and in-your-face girls in the tiny cheerleader group of girls stated. The other two, Heidi and Chelsea, just clutched onto their purses and eagerly waited for the other two to get a move on.

"Right…I umm…forgot." Summer responded with no emotion as she reached into the backseat and pulled her bag and purse out. When she turned around, the 3 girls were looking at her expectantly. Summer's _enthusiasm_ wasn't exactly up to par with the other girls, or more or less Liz. "Oh I'm sorry guys…I've just had a lot on my mind." She stated dryly and decided not to press the issue and began to walk ahead of the girls. They eventually scampered after her to make the 4 of them look intimidating, an action that irritated Summer; and with that, her junior year of high school officially began.

As they strutted their way through the car park, Summer's lingering thoughts once again found their way back to her mind. Not only was she completely enveloped in them yesterday and seemingly all week, but they were now coming to the point of driving her mad. There were way too many things on her mind, and at the root of it was Seth Cohen, Zach and her high school reputation.

The girls approached the curb just outside the stairs leading to the courtyard, when the group of girls were halted by a screeching voice.

"Summer!" they all turned on a whim to find Marissa smiling away and waving her hands frantically for the girls to stop.

"Oh my god." Elizabeth moaned. "You're not going to talk to her are you Summer?"

"That girl is just, ew!" Chelsea stated disgustedly and then turned with the rest of the girls to see Summer's reaction. She was smiling also and shaking her head at Marissa's keen take on being noticed.

"Of course I am." Summer replied, receiving eye rolls form the trio of girls before they eventually took off; muttering something about her damaging her reputation. But she didn't care. Its not like any of that ever mattered anymore. Her and Marissa had been hanging out ever since, well forever. No amount of school social rules could ever break that.

"Sum! Hows it going?" Marissa shouted, as she pulled of her large headphones and turned off her ipod.

"Coop! Volume!" Summer hollered back, until the girl finally got around to shutting the thing off.

"Sorry." She muttered embarrassedly and started giggling. "The new Saosin CD came out and I've just been so obsessed with it."

"Its no problem. Anything that gets me away from _them_." Summer informed and pointed behind her to the now disappearing trio, led by Elizabeth. Summer and Marissa finally began to start walking again, albeit rather slowly.

Marissa laughed loudly, the effects of full-blast music still lingering on her. "Anyday Sum. There's no better feeling in the world than messing around with a bunch of stuck up cheerleaders."

"Hey! I happen to be a cheerleader!" Summer frowned and crossed her arms expectantly at Marissa. The girl just stopped and surveyed Summer for a long time, before bursting out into laughter.

"More like a ring leader."

"Well, at least it's some sort of _leader_."

* * *

"Ryan, why do you even bother locking the doors?" 

"Seth, don't be ridiculous."

"What? This is honestly the only car in this entire county that nobody would ever consider stealing, much less sitting in it." Seth explained as Ryan locked up the car anyway. The car had a hell of a lot of mileage on it, and it was much better suited for just basic tasks like getting to and from school. Unlike the other BMWS and mustangs that lurked amongst the luxury parking lot where they were used only on specific days; other days they might bring out the Escalade. "The car is about one more turn away from falling apart."

"Never mind, lets go." Ryan sighed as he trudged away from Seth and the car, beginning to feel much more isolated from his peers than before thanks to Seth. For some reason, Seth just wasn't the same person he was back in Brooklyn. Back home, he was always smooth, calm and never intimidated. Here, he always seemed to be worried and nervous or have something on his mind that he didn't know what to do about. That _definitely_ wasn't the Seth Cohen he knew.

"Man, you really need to learn how to lighten up."

"Me…lighten up? This coming from the guy who has been freaking about for the past 24 hours about his future high school life."

"Don't you see what I'm doing? Of course I'm still super pissed and super embarrassed. But I've already been through hell and back, what's one more setback going to do?"

"True." Ryan nodded in agreement as they stopped at the crosswalk where other students were also lined up to cross from the parking lot to the school grounds. Seth eyed his surroundings, and instantly found out why he didn't want to come today.

Already a few of the kids that were remaining at school yesterday spotted him out and were laughing away with their friends. He gulped and lowered his head away from them, and continued walking across the street once it cleared.

"Umm hey man…I'm just gonna' go over to the fountain. Maybe try and dig up some pennies and tarnish our rep even more, you know?" Ryan pointed up the staircase to the fountain, where _surprisingly_ Marissa was waiting. Seth lifted his head up from looking down, and found where Ryan was pointing and started grinning.

"Its alright man. You can say you're going to see Marissa." Ryan nodded, relieved that Seth was actually fine with him having a life. He thought for sure he was going to be dragged into hanging around with Seth all day and continually telling him that nobody cared about what happened.

"Okay. See you later." Ryan bolted up the staircase well ahead of Seth, then once at the top, sprang to the left of the rail and was on his way to the fountain. Seth sighed once he reached the top, overcome with anxiety by seeing everyone again, and mostly the only ones that stuck out to him were the ones that saw him yesterday.

He continued walking forward toward the school directory sign, more bad memories, but was stopped by a shrill voice.

"Hey Seth!" He turned around on a whim, stunned that A) someone actually knew his name and B) they bothered to acknowledge him. He turned and faced a relatively smaller blonde girl, peering at him with her luscious blue eyes and innocent smile.

"Uhhh hey…you." He smiled nervously, but the girl seemed to catch on.

"You don't remember me…" She replied a bit rejected.

"What? Oh no of course I do…" She narrowed her eyes at him which caused him to smile. "Okay you got me. I'm sorry, I forgot."

"Liz."

"Oh right. I knew it started with a 'L'." He muttered to himself, receiving an odd look from her. "So what's going on _Liz_?"

"Well now that you ask, I'm handing out flyers for a party I'm having on Thursday at my house." She informed, handing him a flyer as she spoke.

"You're having a party on a school night?" Seth asked, unaware that he had said it out loud.

"Yeaahh…obviously." She eyed him strangely and responded like it was the most obvious thing on the planet. " So are you going to come? Maybe we could get a chance to spend some extra _quality _time." She licked her lips but her eyes remained savagely focused on him, sending Seth through a flurry of insecurity.

"Umm I would l-love to, b-but unfortunately I kind of already promised myself that I would stick with my original plans for Thursday." Seth stuttered out, entranced by this girls looks and obvious attractive _assets_. He cursed to himself for once again losing his edge and trembling in front of women, that just was not him.

"You're blowing me off?" Liz replied angrily, hurt that Seth was actually rejected what she had to offer. She pointed a finger up and down her body to show him exactly what he was dealing with.

"Uhh yeah…you see I was planning on asking Summer if she wanted to hangout or something a-along those lines…" He answered, shaking his head furiously at how lame he sounded. To his surprise, he was met with a grunt, followed by laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Summer Roberts?"

"Yes."

"Summer, queen of the school/most desired girl in Harbor, Roberts?"

"Umm y-yeah." Seth never realized that there were other people beside him that felt this attracted to the girl, which scared him into believing that maybe his feelings towards her were common with all guys at Harbor. Based on this girl's reaction, he was beginning to believe it.

"Get real. Like that would ever happen."

"W-What? Why wouldn't it? We're friends."

"Right, just like how I am _Best friends forever_ with Brad Pitt." She burst into laughter again. "But listen,_ Summer Roberts _only has like 7 good friends, and let me tell you that only one of them is a girl. Maybe that will give you some sort of perspective on her." Liz explained, acknowledging that she wasn't _actually_ friends with her, but more or less using her for popularity like all girls seemed to be doing except for Marissa.

"That's not true. She told me everything yesterday."

"Oh really. Well if you really want to be friends with her, why don't you try getting in line. Preferably behind that senior over there." She explained than pointed to her left over where Summer was chatting away with the Stephens kid from basketball and a few other kids from the team. Unbeknownst to Seth, was the fact that Summer and Zach were technically dating. Seth watched as Summer giggled away like a seductive and horny school girl at the super lame pickup attempts by all the members of the group of boys surrounding her. "So I'll see you at my place on Thursday." Liz walked up behind him and whispered in his ear, than strode away giddily down the narrow walkway leading to the side of the school.

* * *

The day went by relatively smoothly, all except for his last period class, Biology, that he was in now. This was the only class he actually knew someone in, Summer. In his first 3 classes, he still knew no one, talked to no one and had no clue how to get to the classes quickly without getting lost. 

For the most part of the class, none of the students really said much of anything to each other. This class was the only one of all his classes that was making him write notes on the first official day of school, though it was the second. He had been switching back and forth between jotting down notes and staring at Summer and trying to dissect her. Not only was he now clearly whipped by this girl without actually being with her, he was becoming more and more intrigued with her and the way she worked everyday.

"_Summer, queen of the school/most desired girl in Harbor, Roberts?"_

"_Umm y-yeah." Seth never realized that there were other people beside him that felt this attracted to the girl, which scared him into believing that maybe his feelings towards her were common with all guys at Harbor. Based on this girl's reaction, he was beginning to believe it._

"_Get real. Like that would ever happen."_

"_W-What? Why wouldn't it? We're friends."_

He tried to shake off the thoughts from his chat earlier with Liz, but they just wouldn't go away. There's no way that all of what happened between them yesterday, from holding hands numerous times, laughing at each others jokes, and all around flirting with each other was a dream or a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

He slouched back in his chair, consumed by his thoughts, only to be snapped awake by Summer actually turning, though not at him, to pick up a pen she had dropped. Seth felt himself heating up, and cursed himself for about the millionth time that day for getting so worked up over a girl, and he startle to scramble for a way to grab her attention. He was seated at the very back, about 3 rows behind her.

As she picked her pen up and went to turn back around, her eyes randomly flew around the room until they finally landed on Seth. She froze for a second and just stared at him, until finally he lost all control and stuck his hand up to wave at her, smiling albeit nervously. She looked around the room and gave him a half wave, half scratch of the head before shooting around in her desk to continue her work.

Seth's hand slowly fell back onto the desk, realization dawning on him that maybe he _was_ in over his head and didn't actually have the relationship he _thought_ he had with her.

* * *

4th period bell rang, and it couldn't have come soon enough for Summer. She darted down the classroom row of desks, right past Seth, and was the first one out of the class. She figure it was easier to just go to cheerleading practice earlier, where she would have some extra time to try and sort everything out. As obviously all last night, and all week were not enough. 

Her situation was not good. She was lying to Seth, and on a lesser note, lying to Zach.

She quickly opened her locker and tossed in her books, than grabbed her gym bag and took off for the exit doors leading to the gym building.

Her tanned ski instantly welcomed the outdoors and the sun, but not so much the array of eyes that constantly followed her everywhere she went. Groups of girls were posted along the courtyard, watching her intently from afar. Guys bragged to each other about one day "tapping that". But she just shook if off and made her way through the gym doors and eventually to the stage where practice was being held.

Once she was all settled in, the topic of Seth Cohen rang into her head once again. She had no clue why she was even making such a big fuss over a guy, this was sooo not her. A part of her on the inside was actually praying for the day that she discovered he was a big joke so she would never have to think of him again. But at the time, it was just so hard not to. He was complex on many different levels. Even mysterious.

On the one hand, he had a whole aspect of his life in Brooklyn that just seemed so fascinating to her, mainly the fact he had a _life_. All she was accustomed to was "Newport Beach Life". But even she knew it couldn't last forever, and eventually reality would step in.

She was stuck juggling between Seth's actions that still hurt her to this day when he was on the phone, and how cool and down to earth he seemed yesterday when they were hanging out. Yes, she was definitely in limbo.

* * *

After 4th period, Seth decided to spend sometime at the gym and try to strengthen his conditioning even more. His wind hadn't been quite up to his liking for the first practice, and he hoped on improving it. As much as Summer was on his mind, basketball was still his number one priority. His whole mindset actually was that basketball would _get_ him the girl, so he just had to wait and see. 

He entered the gym building, and a few guys from the team passed by him heading in the opposite direction toward the parking lot. He frowned his brows, and figured they must've got in early for their workouts.

He entered the gymnasium double doors, and ran into Coach Williams.

"Hi Coach Williams…sir."

"Cohen…where were you today?"

"Umm what do you mean?"

"Practice. It was at 7:30 this morning."

"What! Nobody told me." Seth exclaimed, fearing for his spot on the team.

"If this is the work ethic you're going to bring to the team, you might as well quit now."

"No, no , no sir I promise you this wasn't my fault. I never knew."

"Well Stephen's said he told you about."

"Who?" Seth asked, knowing full well who it was but just wanted to get a first name out of the coach so he could start referring to him as his first name, rather than 'Stephens' or 'hollister model'.

"Zach Stephens."

"Well he didn't tell me anything."

"Too bad Cohen…make sure you don't miss the next one." With that the Coach left Seth in a heap of furry, and exited the gym doors. Behind him, he could hear the cheerleading practice taking place on the stage behind the curtains. If it wasn't for that practice, he was pretty sure you would be able to actually _hear_ steam coming out of him, as impossible as it seemed.

"Coach Williams! Wait up." A voice hollered from behind Seth, and he turned on a whim to find none other that Zach Stephens exiting the dressing room and trotting across the floor to follow in the coach's footsteps.

"Zach." The boy stopped and surveyed him.

"The new guy."

"The name's Seth. Get used to it cause' you'll be hearing it a lot more."

"Ahaha funny." Seth's attempt at striking fear failed miserably.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me about practice?"

"Oh you didn't get the _letter_?" Zach feigned interest and laughed it off. He began to walk away, but Seth decided to stop him.

"I assume you didn't have anything to do with the sudden disappearance of my gym bag, did you _teammate_?"

"Alright, listen up kid because I'm only going to tell you this once. First of all, teammate is only for those who are actually making the team. Coach said this is going to be an all-senior team, no room for you useless juniors. And also, spare yourself the humiliation and quit now. Or else its only going to get worse."

"I'll keep that in mind." Zach nodded confidently, feeling that his point had got across.

"You might want to check garbage for your gym bag. I assume it was put there because of the resemblance." He explained, trying his best not to laugh. "Oh and by the way, don't even think about continuing out for the team. Coach will never pick you over me, its over. Face the facts." With that, Zach gave him one of his smirks that made Seth want run over and punch it right off. He than prodded off toward the doors to find Coach Williams.

"_It hasn't even begun."_

**Okay so long time since last update. I'm gradually making my back into updating on a regular basis. But ever since school started back up in September, I've been slammed with homework and I'm just now getting free time.**

**I thought this chapter was pretty good. Yes I know some of you are all about the SS time, but this one was more focused on them individually than together. But I promise, the next chapter has plenty of drama and interaction.**

**Also Luke: the next chapter should clarify their feelings towards each other. Sorry about any confusion on how the story was going.**

**I hope you liked it, and please review. It really does help with thought process and motivation for other chapters to come.**

**Review.**


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